


Firecracker

by Aemc123



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3302099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aemc123/pseuds/Aemc123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate Fuller just really didn't want to be alone, and it turns out Seth Gecko didn't want to be either. It would only make sense that they would stick together. But if only things could be as simple as that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seth stared at Kate with his jaw dropped and cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. He shut his mouth and quickly faced the road again. "Well aren't you just a little firecracker, Katie-cakes?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The punishing Mexican sun beat down upon Kate Fuller as she watched the outline of Ranger Gonzalez speeding away slowly fade onto the horizon. When he finally disappeared the realisation that she was completely, one hundred percent alone crashed down on her so hard she swayed on the spot. Her Mother was dead. Her Father was dead. Her brother had chosen the Culebras over their family. She whirled on the spot and kicked the RV behind her so hard the sound of her foot clashing with the vehicle outweighed her cry of pain, she rubbed her foot whilst hobbling on the spot and cursed under her breath. Brilliant, no doubt she now had a broken toe to add to her problems. When she finally steadied herself she turned towards the RV she despised so much, intending to drive towards the border (whatever direction that was in) and drive all way back to her family home. She shook her head, internally chastising herself for her stupidity. She couldn't go home now, how was she going to explain herself when she turned up at the house and had to explain to the nosey neighbours and congregation the absence of her father and brother? What would happen to her? She didn't have any close family left. Her hand lingered on the metal handle as she weighed up her options. It was then she felt the ground begin to shake. It was soft at first, barely noticeable beneath her converses. It grew stronger and stronger, so strong it was making her stumble from side to side, she spun towards the Titty Twister in a panic, nearly loosing her balance completely. Her jaw dropped as she took in the sight. The building shook so violently that the stone bricks was splitting in half with deafening cracks. Kate swore she could hear the painful screams of women from inside the building. Then suddenly, as quick as it started, the screams and the shaking stopped.

The air was so silent only the sound of Kate's heavy breaths could be heard. She wasn't sure how long she had been standing there when she noticed him marching out the door towards her. Seth Gecko. The man who had took her family hostage and refused them the escape that no doubt would've saved their lives. But as she looked at the man, who just so happened to be covered in blood, she couldn't drag up any animosity towards him, no matter how hard she wanted to and how hard she tried. He looked broken and defeated as he strode towards the expensive car parked near the RV, the stark opposite of the cocky, completely sure of himself character she had met the morning before. He seemed so determined to escape that he didn't even notice Kate standing a short distance away from him, it was like he was oblivious of the world around him. Kate wasn't sure what came over her in that moment, maybe it was her desperate desire of not wanting to be alone, maybe it was God guiding her, or maybe it was her sheer stupidity, but as she walked towards him tenderly, she knew she was doing the right thing.

"Seth?" she said softly. His dark brown eyes flew up and met her own. Disbelief flooded his features as she took in the girl standing before him. "Want some company?"

Seth's eyes broke the contact as he stared at the floor, Kate noticed his features changing as he batted with his thoughts and feelings, something inside his head must of won as he once again met her eyes and gave her a grateful, but slightly sad smile. "Yeah," he replied with a slight laugh, as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. He gazed up at the RV. "But not in that piece of shit". He motioned towards the car they currently standing either side of with a slight twinkle in his eye, Kate noticed.

"Hell no," she replied, shocked that he even agreed to her insane notion. "I just need to get a few things from the shitheap first."

Seth shrugged his shoulders and sat in the front seat of the car, "Sure." He replied cooly, his voice and features devoid of any emotion it had shown before.

Kate stood staring for a second before she hobbled back into the RV, once inside she grabbed her bag from her bed and stood for a second, staring around at her surroundings, all of which reminded her of her brother and father in some shape or form. She held back the tears as she grabbed some of her underwear and clothes and shoved it in the bag, along with a few more essentials she would undoubtedly need at some point. She was about to exit when she had a second thought, she strode towards the driver's seat and reached for the picture her father kept there of their family in more happier times. Well, happier times for her. She wondered if her Mum was battling her demons then, and if her brother was finding the family so hard to be apart of back then too. Her eyes lingered on her mother's smiling face, Kate suddenly remembered something.

_Kate and Scott sat on the chairs in the RV, quietly discussing what on Earth was wrong with their Dad. He had strolled into the living room where they sat watching TV, declared that he had brought an RV and were going on a vacation to Mexico. Their Dad had said and done a lot of strange things since their Mum had died, but this definitely had topped as the strangest. Their quiet discussion was interrupted by their Father bringing in the last of the bags in one hand, and in the other he carried a medium sized tin box by its handle._

_"What's in the box, Dad?" Scott asked as Jacob set the bags down on the floor and reached towards a cupboard to place the box in._

_"Your Mother's rainy day fund," he replied, stopping to look at both of his kids. "She was saving since you were both young, said she was saving it until the right moment." He gave them both a sad smile and reached again towards the cupboard, placing the box inside._

Kate reached for the box and threw it in her bag, no doubt this moment was the right one. She didn't know how much money her mother had saved, but she was sure the amount would be more than enough to get her through whatever God and Seth Gecko had to throw at her. She hoped as she began to step out of the RV that Seth hadn't left and drove off without her, she had taken longer than she originally planned and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to be finding herself alone once again. She breathed a sigh of relief when stepped out and and saw him still sitting in the front seat, fiddling with the radio. She strode over to the car and chucked her bag in the back seat, then sat in the passenger seat, shutting the door behind her with a resounding thud.

Seth glanced over and smirked at her as she did up her seatbelt. "Ready?"

She met his eyes and nodded, looking and sounding braver than she felt. "Ready."

It was with that confirmation that Seth put his foot on the gas, speeding away from the bar as fast as he could, causing the desert sand to kick up into the air, leaving the bad memories behind them as they drove away.

An hour had passed as they sat in the car, the radio filling the silence that surrounded them with music that just seemed to repeat the same annoying tune constantly no matter how many times they had changed the station, Seth leaned and turned the radio off completely, finally admitting defeat. Kate was grateful that the music had gone, but she found herself growing uncomfortable in its absence, as the silence that it had filled was now hanging heavily in the air. Kate let her thoughts drift back to the Titty Twister and the events that happened there, Santanico, Sex Machine, Scott, Daddy, Richie getting shot...Richie. Guilt flooded Kate, she didn't bare knowing what her Dad would've thought if she knew that she had shared an intimate moment with the youngest Gecko brother. She started to feel a flush creeping up her neck as she remembered the encounter and smacked down any thoughts of it completely. Instead she remembered as she watch him get shot and dragged away by the Culebra, who, Kate had gathered, was the woman Richie referred to as being the one who had led him there in the first place. She realised she didn't even know what had become of Richie.

"Um, Seth?" Kate began, breaking the awkward silence. Seth made a small sound of recognition, Kate took this as a signal that it was okay to talk. "What happened to Richie?"

Kate could've swore she spotted a fleeting look of pain cross Seth's face, but as quickly as it came it had left. "Why?" He glanced at her with furrowed brows. "Does the Preacher's Daughter want to strike once more?" He asked, the harshness in his voice made Kate recoil.

She faced away from him and looked out towards the desert scenery, trying hard to blink back the tears. The short time she had known Seth she had built a barrier around herself that didn't let his comments towards her harm her, but these words sent the barrier crashing down around her. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn't "The Preacher's Daughter" anymore that was making her feel so sensitive. It hadn't even been a whole twenty four hours since she lost him and her heart already felt that it might break completely from the pain.

Seth looked over and noticed the teenager wiping at her eyes, determined not to let him see her tears. He sighed. "I'm sorry," she looked over and gave him a small smile that barely reached her lips and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "That Santanico slut turned him, and now he's probably running around being her little bitch boy." The disgust on his face was as clear as it was in his voice.

Kate stayed silent and stared at the road ahead. "What happened to your brother and Dad?" Seth asked curiously, he thought the young Bruce Lee and the Ex-Pastor would've stuck with the young girl.

"Well, we found Scott bitten and fully vampire," she began as she switched her phone on. "So he's probably being a Lap Dog as much as Richie is. And then he bit Dad, so I had to stake him." She forced the words come out casually, using her phone as a distraction, trying to convince herself that none of the words were truth.

"Wait, what?" Seth raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You staked your brother?"

"No, my Dad," she replied, her voice cracking.

Seth stared at Kate, who was still staring at the phone, determined to not meet his eyes. "Wow." He shook his head and stared again at the road, his thoughts whirling inside his head. He had gotten to know that this girl wasn't as innocent and spineless and he had first thought, but that had topped it for him. He never would've thought that she had the guts to do that, he didn't think he could've done that to Richie. Or maybe he could, after all Richie had killed their Father. He didn't want to think about it. He was happy not thinking of his brother at all. The silence consumed them once again.

"So, what's the plan?" Kate asked confidently now she was sure that the topic of her family was fully dropped.

"We keep driving for couple more hours get as much distance between us and them freaks as possible, fill up and get a motel room for the night," he peered down at the dashboard. "Scratch that, we need to fill up as soon as possible. And fuck knows what we're going to do after, because I barely have enough money to last us a few nights."

Kate kept quiet and threw him an amused smile. "What?" He asked, failing to see what was so funny to the teenager.

"I have money, a lot of it," she said triumphantly, enjoying that she had gotten one over of the infamous Gecko. She knew that he mostly thought that she was probably useless, she loved proving people wrong.

"Oh yeah?" He scoffed. "Where did you get that then?"

"Took it from the RV, it's my Mother's savings."

"You say that like its an achievement," he rolled his eyes at her. "Remember who's robbed banks, sweetheart."

"And has nothing to show for it?" She replied sweetly. Seth stared at Kate with his jaw dropped and cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. He shut his mouth and quickly faced the road again. "Well aren't you just a little firecracker, Katie-cakes?"

 


	2. Chapter 2

Seth and Kate had lost count of how many hours they had been driving, but the sky was dark and the moon was shining almost as bright as the stars above them. Kate yawned behind the wheel and tried to focus on the road in front of her, her and Seth had switched positions half way through the journey so he didn't have to drive the whole time. She normally loved an excuse to drive as she had never owned a car of her own, and this car was probably the best she'd ever have the opportunity to drive, but the excitement had well and truly warn off as she was finding her attention wavering towards the lit up buildings of the small town they were currently passing through. It was a derelict town, Kate noted. There was broken, boarded up windows on nearly every building they passed, and they frequently passed groups of men shouting angrily to each other in Spanish. Now and then they would even pass Cops standing on the pavement or sitting in the cars on the side of the road, whenever they drove past them Seth shrunk lower into his seat, determined not to be spotted.

"Tired?" Seth asked after Kate let loose another mighty yawn. "Same, it's almost two in the morning. Pull up into the first Motel you see."

"Sure," Kate replied, more than happy to take orders from the criminal. She was too tired to think for herself.

They drove for a further forty-five minutes before they spotted a Motel with it's flashing broken sign out the front, the motel itself looked run down and slightly scary, it nothing she was used to, but Kate was willing to take anything at this point. And if she knew Seth Gecko, there was bound to be a gun on hand. She pulled in and looked at Seth for the plan.

"You go in and book the room," he commanded, pushing a few notes into her hand. "Shouldn't be anymore than this. Then come and meet me back here."

"Okay," she stopped the engine and leant over towards the back seat, pulling her bag to her lap and began to search through it.

"What are you doing?" Seth asked, looking at the bag.

"Putting this on," she pulled out a grey hoodie and put it on her, appreciating the extra warmth her vest top hadn't been providing. "I don't think they'll think I'm entirely trustworthy if they see all the blood on my top and scratch marks on my shoulders."

"A seventeen year old girl all alone getting a motel room at this time isn't exactly unsuspicious either, sweetheart," he scoffed.

"Just as unsuspicious you were being when you made a point to hide from every cop we passed on the way here?" She raised her eyebrows at him, knowing that she had made a valid point that was no doubt infuriating him.

"Just book the room," he demanded.

"Whatever you say, boss." She exited the car and pulled her hood up over her head, trying to gather courage as she made her way to the seedy looking office.

She opened the door to step in, it was bright and surprisingly airy with its yellow walls and thankfully clean floor. There was an old, tanned woman with her grey hair pulled into a bun behind the counter who looked like she was ready to sleep but greeted Kate with a wrinkly smile anyway.

"Hi, I would like a room for two please," she asked as clear as she could, not knowing if the old woman understood English. The old woman shook her head and said something in Spanish as she handed Kate a key.

"Sorry, I don't speak Spanish," Kate apologised, taking the keys. "How much is it?"

The old woman replied but once again Kate couldn't understand her, she internally chastised herself for choosing to learn French at school instead of Spanish. The old woman made signals with her hands and quibbled at her in her language, Kate handed the money Seth had given to her, hoping it would be enough. "I'm sorry, I only have dollars." The old woman took the money anyway and waved her out, shaking her head at her. Kate was so thankful to step out of that room she sped towards the car and got in.

"Everything alright?" Seth asked curiously when she slammed the door behind her.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just couldn't understand a word she was saying so who knows what we'll end up with," she glanced down at the number on the keys. "Room ten...". She slowly drove towards the door and both of them stepped out of the car. Kate swung her bag over her shoulders and handed Seth the keys.

He unlocked the door and they both stepped inside, both neither impressed or disgusted by what they saw. To both of Kate and Seth's displeasure there was only one rickety double bed, a lumpy sofa, a small set of shabby table and chairs, a tiny kitchenette and a door that no doubt led to the bathroom. None of it looked exactly nice and well kept, but at least it wasn't filthy. Seth was happier than Kate, he had stayed in places a lot worse.

"You can take the bed," said Seth, dropping himself onto the sofa and resting his head in his hands.

"Thanks," Kate looked round the room. "Not brilliant, is it?"

"Better get used to it Katie-cakes, because this is what you chose," he replied, bringing his head from his hands and looking up at her. "I thought after the day we had you would've been grateful for a place to rest that sweet Christian head of yours."

"I'm using the bathroom first," she said, ignoring his attempt to anger her. Him using her Father's nickname for her was like a punch in the gut. It didn't bother her when he had used it earlier that day as it he used more in jest, but just then he used it to deliberately to get a response out of her, to belittle her. She was starting to think that she had made a big mistake accompanying Seth, she didn't want to jump from motel to motel every night, ducking the police and putting up with Seth's constant jeering of her and her religion, she only tolerated it (and slightly enjoyed it) when she was able give a cutting answer back. She slammed the bathroom door behind her.

"No problem," he smirked, watching her slam the door. He sighed and stretched, he was exhausted. He couldn't remember being more mentally and physically drained, crossing the border, the vampire killing, loosing Richie and all that driving had really took it out of him. And tolerating Kate. He was started to question what had made him say yes to the teenage girl, he was starting to think it had been a mistake, as he was beginning to discover there was only so much teenage bitchiness he could take. He pulled the blanket from the sofa down and put it over him as he lay down, trying hard to ignore the lumps in the sofa. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, promising himself he would use the bathroom to relieve his bladder once Kate had finished. But instead he started to feel his consciousness ebb away.

Kate looked at herself in the mirror. She had prominent dark circles underneath her eyes which made her looked as exhausted as she felt. She had a thin red cut on her right cheek, which was standing out more against her unusually pale skin. Her hair looked in desperate need of a brush. She had never seen herself look so rough. She turned on the shower and stepped in, moaning with pleasure when the water became warm. She glanced down at her feet, watching the blood that was stained on her body slowly make its way down the drain. She wondered how much of it was hers.

* * *

Once she had done, she stepped out of the bathroom in her pyjamas to tell Seth that the bathroom was free, only to find him sound asleep on the sofa with the lights in the room still lit. He looked a lot more nice when he was sleeping, Kate liked the peace and quiet. She noticed that his hand lingered over the outline of the gun in his pocket, as if he was already for an attack even when he asleep, Kate couldn't imagine a life when she was constantly on the run. But as she turned off the lights and settled into the bed, she couldn't shake the feeling that that was exactly the life she had now chosen for herself.

Seth awoke with a start, sweat dripping down his forehead. He tried to steady his breath as he looked around the room. The sunshine outside was starting to seep through the blinds and into the room, he sat up and stretched, his back clicking from sleeping in an uncomfortable position all night. He closed his eyes, trying to piece fragments of the nightmare piece together in his mind, it was no use though, it was too hazy. The only part he could remember was Richard's scaly Culebra face bearing his fangs and sinking down into his neck. That was a sight horrible enough to give anybody bad dreams. Seth wasn't normally one to get nightmares, the only time he could ever recall getting them was when he was a young boy and living under his Father's wrath, and that was a very long time ago. He wasn't that little boy anymore. He wasn't weak.

 

He glanced down at the watch in his wrist, it was twelve in the afternoon. He looked over at Kate on the bed, she was curled up under the blankets in which Seth could only assume was deep, dreamless sleep. Lucky Girl. He took the opportunity to go for a shower, he had fallen asleep before he had a chance to use it last night and didn't want to take the risk of letting Kate use it first when she woke up. He hadn't had a lot of experience with teenage girls (well, any) but if there was one thing he knew, and that was that they spent obscene amounts of time in the bathroom. Vanessa always did, and she could be as bratty and dramatic as a teenager, so he didn't expect Kate to be much different. Or maybe he was to be pleasantly surprised and proven wrong. But then again he really didn't care.

He undressed in the bathroom and stepped into the shower, washing away the blood and dirt from his body, in addition to any other remnants of the events of the Titty Twister and the desert that had attached themselves to him. He dressed back into his dirty suit with displeasure, deciding to spend part of the money on some new clothes, he couldn't live like this. And some food for him and Kate, as annoying as he was finding the girl he couldn't let her starve. And he was craving a bacon sandwich. There was nothing bacon couldn't fix. And money. And a good gun. He left a note on the table for Kate explaining where if he was if she woke up, and with one fleeting look towards the bed, he strode out of the room.

* * *

Kate awoke while later to the smell of bacon sizzling through the motel room. She sat up and stretched, her stomach rumbling at the smell, she couldn't remember the last time she had properly eaten.

"Hungry?" Seth asked, he plated up a bacon sandwich and passed it to Kate.

"Thanks," she gratefully took the sandwich from him and bit into it as if it was the best thing she had ever tasted. "New clothes?"

Seth noticed her raised eyebrow at his jeans and blue polo. She had never thought she would of seen Seth Gecko, notorious bank robber, wear something so casual. "Yeah. I can't wear that suit forever, as much I'd like too."

They ate in silence for a while, not particularly wanting to start a conversation. Silence always seemed the better answer, that was until Kate wanted to know something, of course.

"Seth?"

"Yeah?" He replied, meeting her eyes.

"What are we going to do?" She asked quietly.

"Well, I know a guy who can set me up with a nice little life in Mexico City. I just need to get in touch with him a find a way there," he sat down on the edge of the bed. "What about you?"

Kate kept silent and looked down at the covers. He had obviously misheard her. Seconds passed before Seth caught on.

"Shit, Kate!" He exclaimed, his eyes widened in surprise. "We can't stick together!"

"Why not?" She said, dismayed. "It's not like I have anyone."

"Yeah, well neither do I," he replied abruptly. "But you have your whole life ahead of you, family and friends you can go to across the border. You stick with me and your life will come to a dead end."

"Maybe it won't," she tried convincing him, her voice wobbling. "My life has already ended. My Mum is dead. My Dad is dead. My brother chose to be with them Culebras over me. Don't you get it? I have no family, no place to go. My life can only get better from here." She couldn't help the tears that had began to pool out of her eyes, before she knew it her whole body was heaving with sobs.

"Shit, Kate," Seth muttered, standing up from the bed and covering his head in his hands, trying to block out her loud, desperate sobs, but it was no use. Deep down, he knew exactly how she felt, her situation sounded no different to his. He turned round to face her and finally admitted defeat. "Fine! You can stay with me. But if takes a turn for the worst, bail. Don't forget that I have cops and who knows what else after me."

"Thank you, Seth," she cried, and before she knew what she was doing she was off the bed and hugging him. Seth stood there like a rock, awkwardly patting her on the back. "Thank you so much."

"Quit the tears, Princess." He lightly pushed her off him and sat down at the table, wanting to distance himself from the crying girl. "It's time to make plans. As much as I would love to stay in this godforsaken place, we can't. I had little run in with a Cop in the town..."

"You killed him?!" Kate interrupted, wiping the tears from her face. Hearing this had made her snap out of her state of shock. A trail of bodies leading the police to them was not a good thing, especially when her future depended on everything going right.

"No, I didn't kill him!" he shouted, irritated that she would even make that suggestion. He wasn't his brother. "I'm a professional thief. Not a killer. I just knocked him out and left him at some random place, so we have to move our asses to avoid getting caught."

Kate rolled her eyes and grabbed some clothes from her bag, making her way to the bathroom to change.

"Now, Kate," he snapped. "You want to stay with me so badly you start following my rules."

"I'm not your hostage," she snapped and waved the clothes in his face. "I'm only getting changed."

"I don't care if you're writing a new fucking verse of the Bible," he replied sardonically. "Hurry the fuck up." He empathised each word, making it clear that he was serious, his face clearly showing the distaste he was feeling towards the teenage girl.

* * *

Half an hour later and they were finally back in the car, Seth driving determinedly away from the motel. Kate noticed him looking in his mirror every few minutes, as if he was paranoid of a swarm of cop cars appearing out of nowhere. Kate plugged her mobile into the the radio and started playing her music and singing along to it. Terribly, of course. Seth raised her eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, 'cause I wanted to listen to your singing the whole journey," he sighed.

She threw him a quick smile before she replied, the humour in her voice evident. "Yeah, because you're part of a large group of people who can't handle my raw talent. It's okay, it's not your fault."

"Thank you for understanding," he smirked.

"No problem," she turned the music down a fraction so he could hear her better. "So how are you going to get in touch with this guy?"

"I know guys who know him," he stopped at a red light, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently. "I just need to ask around and see if anyone can put me in touch with him."

"Fair enough," Kate replied. "Do you think it will be easy?"

He was silent for a moment, thinking about the answer to her question. The truth was, he really didn't know. He couldn't even remember the guy's name, and there was always that small possibility that he wouldn't be able to help. Seth squashed that thought immediately, this had to work. If he couldn't get his El Rey, he was definitely going to have this. "No idea."

* * *

Five Hours and one seedy motel room later, Seth and Kate sat at the table, picking at the greasy Mexican take out food they had picked up a little while before, as they halfheartedly watched a wacky game show on the old fashioned television in the corner. That was until Seth stood up from the table, letting his fork clatter onto his plate.

"I'm going out," he announced, making his way towards the door.

"Where?" Kate asked, switching the TV off with the remote.

"To the bar down the street that we passed when we came here," he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Can I come?" She asked hopefully, not wanting to be alone in unfamiliar room.

"You really want too?" He asked as he shrugged his jacket on, wondering why the Preacher's Daughter was so keen to join him.

"Yeah."

"Then grab your coat, Princess."

* * *

The short walk to the bar was an uninteresting one. The town was lifeless except the odd car that drove past, they didn't meet one person in the dark street. The bar however, was a different story. Seth pushed the door open for Kate, letting her step through first. Kate looked round, taking in her surroundings, there was a large, dusty bar mostly occupied by large old men and a group of guys that looked to be around college age. There was a fairly large dance floor that had been taken over by a group of girls that Kate presumed to be with the group of college guys, dancing to a song Kate had never heard of. There were small tables strewn about which couples sat at, leaning their heads together. She shyly followed behind Seth towards the bar, he leant casually against it, Kate slotting in close next to him.

"What do you want?" He asked Kate, speaking close to her ear so she can hear him over the music.

The feel of his warm breath tickling against her ear made her shiver for reasons that was unbeknownst to her. "Anything," she replied back into his ear. Alcohol had always been a sore spot for her. Her friends back at her old high school had been at parties and got drunk before, despite being well under the legal drinking age. Kate had been at those parties and witnessed the fun she was missing out on in fear of being in trouble with her Daddy. She hated knowing that he was disappointed in her. But thanks to that she also witnessed the puking and the hangovers of her friends the next morning, which would squash any temptation of trying it, until the next party. But here in Mexico the legal age to drink was eighteen, and she was nearly eighteen, and Daddy was dead, there was no Scott to rattle on her and it's not like Seth cared whether she drank or not. Her life was already basically ruined, what was wrong with breaking some rules?

"Two shots of tequila over here, please!" He waved at the bartender to get his attention. The bartender nodded and made the shots up for them, passing them over. Seth handed him the money and passed one to Kate. "What should we toast to?"

She thought for a moment, "Mexico City."

Seth smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, I can toast to that."

"To Mexico City," They both raised their glasses and downed them. It burned Kate's throat as she swallowed it, making her wince slightly. Except from that, she really didn't mind it. It wasn't as bad as she had imagined it.

Seth called for two more.

"To the douchebag Sex Machine, I hope he rots in hell," said Kate before they downed their shot.

Seth called again for more.

"To the asshole Carlos, I hope my money can buy him another crazy bitch to fuck up his life." Said Seth. They downed their shot.

This time Kate called the bartender for more.

"To the scumbag slut Santanico, for only ever being good for wrapping snakes round her tits." Kate said with disgust. They downed their shot.

With each one she drank the taste slowly grew on her. Seth looked down at her as he passed her her next one. "You feeling alright?" He asked.

"I'm feeling fine," she drank her shot, squeezing her eyes shut as she swallowed. "Why?"

"I never really had you down as a big drinker." He raised he's eyebrow at her as he downed his. This girl was really full of surprises.

"I'm not, but there's a first time for everything," she kept silent for a second, wondering if she should carry on. "Life is pretty crazy at the moment. We just killed a bunch of Culebras and lost the last remaining parts of our family and you're questioning my drinking?"

"Good point."

As if by clockwork, one of the college guys leaned over to them, he had floppy dark hair with bright blue eyes which made Kate swoon a little bit. "Hey, you want to join me and my buddies?" He addressed both Kate and Seth. Kate looked over to Seth for confirmation, Seth shrugged her shoulders at her, not really caring what she did, although he already disliked him and his "buddies".

"Sure," Kate smiled. She accepted a drink from one of the guys and started chatting, Seth stayed at the sidelines and kept a watchful eye over things while he ordered a bottle for himself. He watched Kate as she laughed easily with the group, and wondered how she did it. How she could act all happy and carefree to a group of strangers that she owed nothing to when all he wanted to do was drink till his sorrows drowned inside him, never to surface again.

* * *

 

"We like to drink with Kate, 'cause Kate is our mate! And when we drink with Kate, she downs it all in eight!" The group chanted as Kate chugged down the contents of the pint glass, trying to not think about the amount of alcohol was mixed in as her stomach churned. "Seven, six, five, four, three..." The group erupted into cheers as Kate demolished the drink, smacking it down on the bar as she did so. The interest of the other people round the bar had been piqued, and they cheered along with them. Seth took a big swig of his drink, trying to ignore the commotion beside him.

However, Seth noticed Kate swaying heavily on the spot when the same dark haired boy who invited her passed another pint glass into her hands. Seth had counted four of them so far. He slid his way through the group and lightly touched her arm. "I think you've had enough," he whispered into her ear.

"I'm fine," she slurred, flashing him a big grin. "Go back to the motel, I'll meet you there."

"No, if I'm going to the motel you're leaving with me." He placed his hand on her arm and lightly began to lead her away.

"Hey man, leave her alone!" The dark haired boy grabbed Seth's arm and dragged them both back towards him. "She wants to stay, dickhead."

Seth whirled round to the face the guy, watching as the boy attempted to size Seth up. They were at eye-level, but this boy looked weedy, and Seth knew that he would be able to easily overpower him, even if he didn't. He looked down at the arm on his and met his eyes, then smirked. "You have one second to get your arm off mine, before I beat your ass to the border and back."

The boy kept his hand on his arm and began to speak, "Too late," Seth interrupted, grabbing his arm and twisting the boy's arm all the way up his back, making him cry out in pain.

"Seth, stop it!" She shouted. "I'm fine!"

Seth stopped for a second, then threw the boy to the floor and turned to face Kate. "Do what you want." He went back to his place at the bar and ordered another bottle, so that's what he gets for trying to be nice to the girl. He shook his head as the boy got up from the floor and put his arm around Kate, leading her back to her place at the bar.

* * *

 

Half an hour of drinking had passed before Kate's vision started to blur and double. Feeling as if she was going to be sick, she rushed outside, puking at the side of the road. She stumbled to the back of the bar away from any prying eyes and leant against it and closed her eyes, it felt like her brain was moving inside her head. She didn't know how long she had been out there before the dark haired boy came outside and spoke to her. She didn't know his name.

"There you are Kate," he stood over her, placing his hands either side of her body. She opened her eyes. "What are you doing out here? Come back inside."

"No," she slurred, trying to sound firm. Instead her words sounded incoherent. "I want to stay out here."

"That's a better idea," he huskily replied, bringing his face closer to hers.

"Let's stay out here." He brought his lips down to hers. "No," she turned her face to the side away from his lips. "Don't."

He roughly began kissing her, he grabbed her arms and pushed them against the wall, preventing her from moving. Kate considered for a moment just letting him do it, to not fight it. But this wasn't how it was meant to feel. It was meant to feel good, not forced and disgusting. It was meant to feel pleasurable and special. Like she felt with Richie.

"No!" She shouted, wrenching her face away from his. She began to sob. "Stop it!"

"Be quiet," he commanded gruffly, and began kissing her again, angrily shoving his hand under her top and grabbing her breast.

She sobbed harder and started thrashing against his touch. But no matter how hard she struggled she just couldn't escape him. Admitting defeat, she went limp against his touch, unable to find the energy to carry on fighting against his hold. Then suddenly she heard the click of a revolver being loaded. The boy froze as he felt the end of the gun being pressed against the side of his head.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your brains out," A man's voiced hissed. Kate had never been so thankful to hear Seth Gecko's voice. She slid against the wall as she felt the boys hold loosen from the shock. She fell to her knees and vomited at his feet.

"Don't even think about running you perverted bastard," he pressed the gun harder to his head. The boy froze. Suddenly he felt another gun being pressed hard against him, this time to the back of his skull.

"Don't worry, brother," said Richie Gecko as he pulled back the hammer of the gun. "I've got this."

The sound of a gun shot filled the air as he pushed the trigger. Blood splattered on them as the boy collapsed to the floor at Kate's feet. She screamed and moved behind Seth's legs and grabbed hold of them, crying harder than she had previously thought possible.

 

"Richie?" Seth spluttered. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd check up on you both," he said casually as he put the gun back in his pocket. "And you're welcome, by the way." He motioned with his hand towards the boy who was laying dead on the floor.

"Bullshit," he spat. "Why are you really here?"

"That's no concern of yours," he bent down towards the whimpering Kate and placed his hand against her cheek, cupping her face softly. "You okay, Kate?"

Her green eyes widened as they met his blue. Kate swore she felt a bolt of electricity running through Richie's hand to her cheek, making her one hundred times more sensitive to his touch. "Does she sound okay to you?" Seth shouted, wrenching him back up by the shoulder. "Get the fuck outta here, Richard. Does that Santanico slut know that her slave is here?"

"I'm not her slave," he replied angrily, his eyes darkening to the colour of a Culebra's, his fangs erupting from his mouth in an attempt to threaten and no doubt disgust his brother. "How many times do I have to tell you?!"

Seth didn't recoil. He picked Kate to her feet and put her arm round his shoulders, holding her close to him. "You keep telling yourself that. Take care of the body and get the fuck outta here." He turned his back on him and began to walk away from the bar and the youngest Gecko brother, supporting Kate as he did so. Her sobs eventually turned to sniffles as they walked along the silent street.

"Thank you, Seth." She said, the slur in her voice still evident. "Thank you so much." She wrapped both of arms around Seth, stopping him mid walk.

"No problem, Princess." He absentmindedly rubbed small circles into her back, comforting the girl who was once again in tears.

"Is Richie gone?" She asked, the memory of him cupping her face and their eyes meeting flashed back into her mind. "Hopefully," he said as they carried on walking again.

"I want you to teach me how to use a gun," she said confidently.

Seth gave a short laugh. "Let's see how you feel about that in the morning," he said as they reached the door to their motel room. They walked in and he placed her gently on her bed, she immediately grabbed him as he turned to walk away. "What?" He asked.

"I have another toast," she said quietly as her eyes began to drift shut.

"And what's that?" He asked curiously. "To our broken, messed up, sad excuse for a family," she whispered, and with that her eyes fully drifted shut, leaving Seth standing in the room alone.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning was a rough one for the both of them. Kate had spent the majority of it with her head over the toilet throwing up the alcohol and the memories from the night before, and taking multiple showers as she tried to wash away the feel of that creep's touch from her body. Seth had spent it sitting at the table fuming over the appearance his brother and paranoid that a cop was going to burst through the motel to arrest him for that murder of that guy at the bar. Not that he didn't deserve it. Seth thought the perverted arsehole deserved to die over and over again for any little bit of pain he had put Kate through. He had also spent it in a phone-box opposite the motel getting in touch with people he thought would know the guy who could set them up with a new life. So far it had been useless, it seemed that nobody knew this guy, although Seth was pretty sure his former accomplices didn't want to be known to be helping the notorious Gecko. That would be too much trouble than what it was worth. Now they both stood in a deserted patch of land next to an empty highway, the sun bearing down on them, both with a gun in their hands. It turned out that Kate still wanted to learn how to use a gun, and after what had happened the night before, Seth was more than happy to oblige. She had reasoned with him that all the time she had known him, he had defended her when she got into trouble or if something or someone had threatened her. Say if something happened to her when he wasn't around? Seth hadn't been able to come up with a decent answer, so he had set out cans and bottles on an old bench, and was teaching Kate how to successfully shoot them down. 

"Okay, so hold it like this," he demonstrated with his own, holding it up so Kate could see clearly. She copied him, the gun feeling foreign and so very wrong in her hands. Knowing that she now held something that gave her the power to kill terrified her, despite having killed before. "Good, now aim for that brown bottle, but don't shoot."

She aimed at the bottle, her hands were shaking so much she knew when she fired she would miss it by a mile. Seth placed his hands on her own and steadied them. "Relax, Kate," he instructed. "You'll be fine, trust me. Just breathe and squeeze the trigger softly, and stay how you are now throughout the whole thing, don't release the trigger suddenly and drop your arms or anything. You have to follow through. And remember it's just a bottle, not a person."

The word "yet" seemed to hang unspoken in the air between them.

"You ready?" He asked. Kate met his eyes and nodded, Seth slowly took his hands off hers, Kate was shocked to find them now completely still. "Go on, then."

Kate took a deep breath then squeezed the trigger, she tried hard to not jump back at the loud noise it had produced, reminding her off the night before when Richie had appeared out of nowhere and shot that guy for her, the body falling to her feet. Instead she held her posture, watching the bottle smash as if it were in slow motion. She turned to Seth and broke into a huge grin.

"I did it!" She shouted with glee. 

"Yes you did, sweetheart." He was took back when Kate suddenly enclosed him into a big hug. He patted her back awkwardly, he was starting to realise that this girl had a thing for hugging and showing emotions.

"You're a good teacher," she smiled at him ash broke off the hug. She then turned back to the bench, aimed the gun, steadied herself then shot one at the tins. 

"Or you're just a natural," he praised her as he watched the can drop of the bench, impressed with how quickly she had picked it up. He thought it would've took the Preacher's Daughter a lot longer to grasp using a gun, mentally and physically. 

"Or that," she winked at him. They both made their way back to the car. "So where are we off too now? I saw you at the phone-box, did you find out anything?"

They had both decided earlier that morning that it was no longer safe for them to stay there after what happened the night before. "No," Seth replied, the annoyance he was feeling evident in his his tone of voice. "Nobody wants to help, what can I offer them? I'm just a wanted criminal with no money to give them." They had both agreed to start using Kate's money from the RV as Seth's stash was dwindling quicker than they had anticipated. 

"Do you really need him?" Kate asked. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Do you really need this guy to start a new life?" Kate reasoned. "What's stopping us from from just going to Mexico City and setting it up ourselves?"

"Don't be stupid, Kate." Seth rolled his eyes. "I'm a wanted man on the run with a teenage girl, the only thing we can do for ourselves is jump from motel to motel. If we set foot in the city without help the police would be all over us."

"Well nobody wants to help us! You said that yourself," she raised her voice slightly, she hated being called stupid. "You've robbed banks and only been caught by the police once, I'm sure you can hide out in Mexico City and not get caught."

Seth kept silent. 

"What's with the silence?" Kate teased. "Don't have an answer?"

"The only reason I got caught that time was because I didn't have Richie," he admitted quietly as if he was ashamed. "If I try anything without him now I'll probably just get caught all over again."

"So what?" Kate questioned, raising her eyebrows at him. "The Gecko Brothers have retired?" 

"What's that meant to mean?" Seth flashed her an angry look. Kate just rolled her eyes at him, his face contorted into a look of disgust when he finally realised what she was implying. "No, Kate! I don't want Richie anywhere near me. That son-of-a-bitch made his choice when he stayed with that Culebra."

"Yeah, that choice seems to be boding so well with him, since he turned up randomly last night. Without Santanico." She replied sarcastically, her hopefulness slightly showing through her voice. 

Seth kept silent for a moment, watching the young girl closely. He started hesitantly, not sure on how to tackle the issue now that his suspicions about Kate's feelings toward his brother in his opinion had been more or less confirmed. "The thing about Richie is, sweetheart," he stopped for a moment, not sure how to word it. "Everything he's ever done has had some sort of ulterior motive behind it, even when we were younger. I bet that it's ten times worse now that he's all undead and under that bitch's spell. I know he may look like your knight in shining armour right now after appearing and shooting that guy for you, and after that cosy little scene I walked in on at the Twister he may look like your perfect guy at the minute. But trust me Kate, don't go there. My brother's relationships are lacking, and the ones he did have never lasted or ended well. He's never been good at simple human connection, even with me. He's a walking time bomb, before death and if yesterday was anything to go by, after death too. I guarantee right now he's cozied up with Santanico plotting something."

Kate kept silent. 

"People always used to warn me about him, but I always denied it, said they were wrong. But I see the truth now," He looked down at his feet, Kate noticed the look of sadness that crossed his face. "I'm just saying, don't see him as this perfect guy, because he's not Kate. He's more problematic than me and him put together."

"I don't see him like that, and I never said I did either," she attempted to assure Seth. "I just want to get to Mexico City. I'm bored of motels."

Seth sighed. "Okay, Princess."

~

They had only drove a short while before pulling into another motel. This one seemed accommodating and had a pool, much to Kate's delight. She had barely been in the room ten minutes before she had changed into her bikini and tore off towards the pool, Seth had opted to half heartedly phone more people in hope of finding the guy, but no luck. He was starting to think maybe Kate's idea would be better, just go to Mexico City and try to set something up themselves, but he liked doing things properly. And he didn't like admitting defeat, either. It had started to get dark before Kate walked back into the room, her skin slightly red from the sun and her hair wet and a towel wrapped tight around her body. She smiled at Seth laying on one of the beds before stepping into the shower. Seth turned the TV up higher, trying to drown out the loud noise of the water, his stomach rumbled restlessly, complaining of not being fed all day. Kate stepped out the shower a little while after in shorts and t-shirt, her wet hair pulled away from her face in a high ponytail.

"Want to get something to eat?" Seth asked.

"Sure," Kate smiled, following Seth out of the room. The sun had nearly fully set but the pair were sweating slightly from the humidity as they walked down the street, opting to leave the car parked at the motel. The streets slowly got busier as they walked into the heart of the town, eventually they found themselves outside a greasy looking pizza joint and opted to go in. 

They ate their pizzas in silence for a while, both still feeling slightly awkward from their earlier conversation in the car. Instead they watched as patrons came in and out the door, the air conditioning blasted cool air that blew their hair slightly as it prevented them from overheating whilst they ate. 

"I forgot to ask you," Seth begun quietly as he finished off a slice and picked up his next one. 

"Ask me what?" Kate asked between mouthfuls. 

"If you're okay," Seth's concerned eyes met Kate's. "After that prick last night."

"Oh," her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I'm okay I guess". 

"Good," he cleared his throat awkwardly and began to eat again.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "For helping me. You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah I did," he corrected, shrugging his shoulders. "Despite the bank robbing and the occasional hostage taking," this made Kate chuckle slightly. "I can be quite a decent person."

"I know." The honesty in Kate's voice threw Seth a little. There wasn't a lot of people in this world who saw him as a decent person, and he never expected Kate of all people to think that way. Considering everything that had happened in the short time they had known each other, from the hostage taking to the prevention of her and her family's freedom to the whole fucked up Culebra situation. But she was, despite everything, not seeing him as a complete bastard. He doubted that even Vanessa ever saw him as truly decent either, even during the time when they were together. The only person he could think who would feel the same as Kate would've been Richie once-upon-a-time, but things weren't exactly right between the brothers, and Seth doubted they ever would be again. A fleeting look of pain crossed Seth's features, and Kate decided to change the subject. 

"What does your tattoo mean?" She asked casually, inclining her head slightly at the black tribal markings that travelled from the top of his neck to his shoulder down the length of his arm. At that moment in time it was partly covered by his shirt, but Kate had secretly ogled it when she was sitting on her bed earlier that day when he had stepped out of the bathroom dripping from the shower, and looked round the room cursing while he tried to find a shirt to wear. It had fascinated her. 

"It doesn't mean anything," he looked down at his arm. "I got it in a drunken celebration of earning a decent score back when I was younger."

"It looks a little like flames," she observed as she leaned in to take a closer look.

"It's got nothing to do with flames." He replied slightly abruptly and leaned away from her stare. 

"Okay, it has nothing to do with flames." She rolled her eyes dramatically. 

He chose to ignore her eye roll and motioned towards her empty plate, "You ready?" He asked. Kate nodded and they got up from their seats and they made their way outside into the warm night air. The streets were a lot quieter compared to the short time ago when they had gone in to eat, the eerie silence and the lack of cars made Kate feel jittery. Almost as if she could sense something coming, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, despite the warmth of the night. She stopped dead on the sidewalk and looked round her, Seth stopped walking next to a dark alleyway and faced her, he raised his eyebrow and threw her an exasperated look. "You coming?" 

"Something's not right," she said quietly, the panic slowly rising in her voice. 

"Nothing's right, Kate. This whole thing isn't right," he beckoned to her, growing impatient with her just standing there. "But the best we can do is move forward, keep our heads up and all the rest of that inspirational, happy-go-lucky bullshit."

She took a few tentative steps towards Seth as her breath hitched in her throat. She couldn't explain why this sudden feeling of foreboding had washed over her, but all she wanted to do was turn around and run for her life. She took another tentative step forward then promptly jumped back, screaming as she did so. A towering Culebra had snaked out of the darkness in the alleyway and locked Seth in a deadly embrace from behind, Seth struggled against his hold without success, the Culebra tightened his grip and brought his fangs down close to his neck and spoke with such malice that his voice made Kate shiver in fear. 

"You should've listened to your girlfriend, engañar," the scales on his face gleamed in the moonlight. "And now you will have to pay the price." 

"She's not my girlfriend you scaly prick," Seth spat, his voice unperturbed. "And get your fucking hands off me before I kill you and every other damn fucking vampire in this country."

The Culebra laughed as it brought it's fangs closer to the bare skin of Seth's neck, they were just grazing his skin when he sounds of a gun shot filled the air. Seth and the Culebra's eyes shot up to Kate who was standing a short distance away from them, a gun aimed at the Culebra who was still holding Seth with an iron like grip. Kate's hands were shaking violently as she aimed at the Culebra who was meeting her eyes dead on, a small smirk twisting at his mouth. 

"You sure you want to shoot again?" He hissed. "Because if you do it'll be you who dies first tonight." 

Kate and Seth looked gazed at each other for a split second. Seth's features were unreadable as he watched the conflicted look on Kate's face as she desperately tried to figure out what her best course of action was. Should she shoot and risk hitting Seth with her shaking hands, who's life state was much more vulnerable than the Culebra's who was not even a mere inch away from him? Or did she shoot, miss and meet her death from a lack of defence on her part? Or did she just drop her gun altogether? Kate had made her mind up, and dropping that gun was not an option. She shot the gun once more, and by some miracle the bullet shot at the Culebra's shoulder, it's face twisted into pure vengeance as it hissed and threw Seth crashing to the ground. He strode towards Kate, picking the bullet at of it's shoulder and flicking it to the floor as if it was a piece of lint. 

"Now, Kate!" Seth shouted as he pulled his gun from his pocket and aimed at the back of the Culebra. They both fired shot after shot into it's body. Kate braced herself as she continually fired, trying hard not to loose her nerve. This was completely different to shooting bottles and tins on an old bench. Eventually the Culebra dropped and started to writhe on the ground, it seemed that the amount of bullets they had shot into him had taken an effect on him, no matter how temporary. Seth pushed himself slowly of the ground and rushed over to meet Kate in the middle, she was breathing heavily and seemed to be in a state of shock. 

"You okay, Princess?" He cupped her face tentatively as she nodded breathlessly. "Good, we need to get out of here. Now." He grabbed her hand as they began to run from the street, Seth took the lead slightly as they sped for their lives with only one thing on their mind. Put as much space between them and that Culebra as possible. The absence of the feeling of Kate's gold cross necklace bouncing around her neck was more pronounced as she ran for her life.

~

They burst into their motel room, Seth locked the door and they both shoved an old chest of drawers in front of it to block anybody or anything making an entrance. 

"What the fuck just happened?!" Seth kicked at the bathroom door, releasing the pent up anger he had felt when the Culebra first touched him. 

"We nearly got killed, that's what." Kate said, she sat down on her bed and and ran her hands through her hair, closing her eyes as she did so. She was still in shock.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," he sarcastically replied, his voice raised. "What I want to know is why that snake freak was so intent on killing us." He paced up and down the room, his gun still held tightly in his hand. Kate had gingerly placed hers on her bedside table when they had came into the room, not sure on how deal with fact that she was finding the idea of killing a lot easier these days. 

"Can we not figure that out later?" She pleaded. "I want to get out of here."

"Me too. But we can't leave now, it's dark and we don't know how many fuckers are out there," he stopped pacing and peered cautiously out of the blinds. "We'll leave in the morning. But right now we need weapons, guns aren't going to be much use to of us now."

Kate was upset that they weren't leaving straight away, but she knew that Seth had made a valid point. She peered around the room, "We could cut the chair legs off and turn them into stakes," she suggested hopefully. 

Seth smiled at her and picked up a chair then stood it up on the table. "Great idea, Katie-cakes," She would've took it as a compliment if his voice wasn't so hard. Kate watched as he removed a penknife from his jeans pocket and started to cut at one of the legs, it finally gave away and he started to carve a sharp point at one end. He tossed it over to Kate who caught it easily. "One for you," he said, then promptly started on the next one.   
Three remodelled chairs and twelve stakes later, Seth and Kate sat on the bed closes to the door facing the chest of drawers blocking the door, both of them tense and ready to spring into action should a Culebra come knocking. Hours passed and Kate was starting to feel her eyes drooping as she stared at the door, her defences slowly lowering. All she wanted to was to crawl into her bed and preferably wake up the next morning and find that all of this had been a messed up dream, that her Mama and Daddy weren't really dead, she'd wake up and have the usual fight for the bathroom with a fully human Scott, Seth and Richie Gecko would've just been a news bulletin irrelevant to her and the whole idea of vampires would continue to be make believe. Tears welled up in her eyes and she blinked them away furiously, she had done enough crying these last few days to last her a lifetime. She cast her childish hopes away, ashamed that she would even wish for that to happen. She was not five years old anymore and she no longer believed in happily-ever-afters, her life had flipped upside down and she was just going to have to deal with it. 

Seth jumped when Kate's head fell onto his shoulder, he had been staring so intently at the door ready for danger that he had almost forgotten about the girl sitting beside him. He stared down at her in confusion before noticing that she was fast asleep. He sighed and picked her up slowly, not wanting to wake her, and placed her on her own bed. She stirred for a second and then laid still once more, lost in her dreams. Seth made his way back to the bed and sat, poised with his stake, fighting off any temptations of the sleep that he craved. 

~

Seth awoke the next morning with a start, annoyed that he had let himself drift off despite the fact that there was obviously no more attempted attacks on the them during the night if the quiet room and still sleeping girl in the next bed was anything to go by. He got up from the bed and stretched, forcing himself to wake up more. He rubbed his eyes and made his way over to the blind and peered out at them. 

"Shit!" He exclaimed loudly, making Kate sit up in her bed from fright. He punched his fist against the window in frustration.

"What?!" She said, the panic she had felt before she fell asleep was rising back up inside of her. 

"Our car has gone," he replied angrily as he shook his hand in attempt to get rid of the pain pulsing through it. "Some fucker must of stolen it."

"So we're stuck here?" She said quietly, the panic she was feeling dulled inside her but still remained, gnawing away at her. 

"No, I'll just get a new one. We would've attracted attention in that eventually anyway." 

"You're going to steal one?" She asked, slightly in awe at the idea.

"Well yeah," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You wanna learn that too?" He half smiled at her. 

"Yeah," she paused for a second and looked at the ground. "I want to learn everything."

"Why?" He asked, the confusion he was feeling as to why she would want him to teach her showing on his face. "Why are you so keen to learn everything I know?"

She looked up and met Seth's eyes. "I want to survive."

~

They checked out of the motel and left to find a car near by, they finally settled on an inconspicuous, old looking blue vehicle. Seth taught her how to break into it without raising the cars alarm and with minimal damage to the vehicle. Kate watched attentively as she tried to soak up all the information he was giving her, Kate couldn't help but compare Seth to how her Father was when he used to preach to the congregation at the church. They were both focused at the task at hand, but let their passion for the subject flow while making it appear to be the most natural thing in the world to them, they didn't have to think twice, they did it as if it was a second nature. Kate had also noticed that's how Seth was with his gun. 

Seth took the wheel as they drove, taking random turns every now and then, not especially caring where they ended up. They mulled over the Culebra attack over and over again, discussing theories as to why it might've happened, each one being more ridiculous than the last. The truth was that they just couldn't come up with a good enough reason that was able to justify it to themselves, both Seth and Kate couldn't stand the unknown, they both detested being out of the loop, especially when it concerned their future and their life. Kate's mind kept replaying the events of the last few days, starting from the Dew Drop Inn all the way to that very second as she sat in the car with Seth, her thoughts kept drifting back to Richie. She was becoming increasingly curious as to why Richie had been at that particular dive bar, the most obvious thing she could think of was that he was following them, but why help her? He had Santanico, why would he feel the need to help her? She didn't mean anything to him. And why was he following them in the first place? Was it under Santanico's orders or was he there in his own accord? Kate wanted desperately to discuss it with Seth but didn't in the fear of having to listen to Seth's version of relationship advice all over again, not that she needed it in her opinion. Kate replayed that conversation in her head when something suddenly clicked into place. 

"Seth," Seth made a little hm noise to show that he was listening to her, even though his eyes were still on the road. "You know what you were saying yesterday about Richie having an ulterior motive behind everything?"

"Yeah..." He replied cautiously, intrigued at where Kate was meant to be going with this. 

"Well don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that Richie shows up randomly then all of a sudden we've got a Culebra after us? And don't say it was random, because there was a whole load of people he could of chose to snack on but he chose us."

"Nah, Richie wouldn't do that," Seth said, dismissing her claims. 

"You said yourself he was Santanico's lapdog, who knows what they're doing?"

"I know my brother, he wouldn't do that," his tone became commanding. "Now drop it."

"I thought I knew my brother too."

"Drop it, Kate." He grew angry at her assumptions and her persistence. "Or you can get out the car and play your little surviving game by yourself."

Kate fell silent and didn't pursue the subject anymore, taking the Gecko's threats seriously. There was lots of alternatives she would prefer over her situation at the present, but being alone was not one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you think/ where to improve etc :)


	4. Chapter 4

The next six months passed in a surreal blur. Seth and Kate jumped from motel to motel, making their way steadily across Mexico, and when a motel wasn't available they slept in whatever car they had stolen at the time, instantly regretting their decision when they awoke the next morning with an aching back and neck, but of course that didn't stop them making that same mistake over and over again. They never stopped in a place for any more than than a few days, over the course of the six months Culebra attacks on the both had grown more frequent, it had become such a common occurrence to the both of them that both Seth and Kate had stopped questioning why it was happening and instead carried on fighting them until they turned into a defeated pile dust on the floor. Kate had never felt satisfaction quite like staking a Culebra in the heart and watching their demonic eyes as they widened with the realisation that the young girl in front of them had took their life, or whatever shred of life the had left inside of them. It seemed like killing Culebras together was one of the few times when Seth and Kate truly connected, they worked in sync of each other and seemed to predict the next move the other was going to take, helping each other with a kill or protecting the other when it was needed. As much as it would've disgusted them both to admit it, they really liked those moments. 

However, as the attacks increased the stress and the fear did too. Kate would fall asleep with her back away from Seth as she stared at the picture of her family she had took from the RV all those months ago, sometimes the tears would stream silently down her face as she gazed sadly at the picture, other times she'd look at it and embrace the large absence in her heart that her family used to fill as she would break down in the dark. Seth pretended not to notice Kate's heaving shoulders as she curled up in her bed at night, obviously trying hard to conceal the fact that she was crying into her pillow and the photo he knew that she carried around with her, but some nights it was unbearable. Before he knew what he was doing he'd be switching on a small light and climbing into her bed next to Kate, who would immediately turn to face him and clutch at him desperately as her whole body racked with sobs. Seth never bothered with pointless sayings like Don't worry, it'll get better and it'll all be okay, because he couldn't promise that. And he never made a promise he couldn't keep, if he could help it. Instead he would rub small, comforting circles on her back and just hold her. Some people would've thought that was intimate and suggest something more between them than just companions, but they both knew different. Nothing couldn't and wouldn't ever happen, as far as they were concerned. They were just their messed up, broken, sad excuse of a family. And they were fine with that.

Kate spent the most of her mornings lounging beside motel poolsides, soaking up the Mexican sun as she avoided doing anything worthwhile. The effect of the sun was taking its toll on her, she had developed the deepest tan she had ever had in her life, and a few more freckles were dotted around her face and sunburned body. Her hair was also a little bit lighter, and Kate liked the change. She looked very different to the seventeen year old who had had her whole life ripped away from her, she now looked like the troubled eighteen year old she had become with a killer tan. So at least one thing was positive. Sometimes Seth would join her by the pool with a beer and they would chat, sometimes about pointless things, sometimes about their past. Kate and Seth had learnt a lot from each other the past few months, Kate had confided in Seth about everything that had happened at the Titty Twister after he had left for Richie, and in a even bigger moment of weakness, how her Mother had truly died and how she now felt that what she once remembered as a happy childhood was now a lie to her. In turn Seth begrudgingly revealed stories of his childhood with his father and then the many foster homes he had lived in, all of the stories he told her all had Richie as a main character. Although it was never spoken, Kate could tell from the fleeting look of pain that crossed Seth's face every time Richie was mentioned that Seth missed his brother dearly, despite how he now apparently viewed him as a monster. She didn't know that Seth thought the exact same thing concerning her and Scott. 

Seth had begun to view Kate as an apprentice of sorts, he had been teaching her the skills that he had used to his advantage over the years and she picked them up easily, as if she had been doing them for years. She was especially good at picking locks and also had a flair at stealing cars, each one she had chose throughout the months had been more than satisfactory which made her feel smug as Seth felt obligated to congratulate her on a job well done. Almost as well as the jobs they had both done together. Kate was adamant that she would one hundred percent not help Seth in any crimes as long as she lived when he first suggested doing small jobs on places like gas stations and small shops together to bring in more money. However, she began to wear down to the idea as their money stash began to dwindle faster and faster. So, she agreed on one term, that she never do the actual stealing. Seth, who was secretly delighted about getting his own way happily agreed and so they started, Kate would play the part of a distraction and lure the cashier away from their tills as Seth would sneak in unnoticed and break into it, stealing every last bit of cash that was in there. Seth felt like it was all too easy and yearned for a challenge, he was used to banks and big scores, not lonely gas stations and small town shops. But a score was a score, and he was always happy when they got back to whatever motel room they were staying in and counted their money. Kate always denied the thrill each job gave her.

 

Kate had well and truly lost her childhood fear of the dark. She often strolled alone at night, armed with one of Seth's coats that was far too big but she liked to wear anyway, the large pockets were useful at concealing the gun and small stakes she had now grown accustomed to carrying around with her. Luckily she had encountered very few Culebra when she was alone at night, the ones she had run into gave her such an adrenaline rush at the time she would ignore the pain the Culebra gave out to her, but after she staked them she would stumble to the nearest wall and slide down on it, trying to control her rapid breathing as she grappled with the reality of what had happened. The truth was, she only ever truly felt safe when fighting was when Seth was right next to her, battling a Culebra of his own. Sometimes she'd be wandering aimlessly and some drunk or overly obnoxious guy would start catcalling to her or start following her, she liked it when that happened too. She liked whirling around and aiming the gun with steady hands at them, daring them to take a step towards her. She liked to see the look of horror appear on their face and watch them back away from her slowly before running away, as if Kate was actually the danger. She had strolled down many dark streets in many dark towns, she had been desperate to just stay in one place, maybe settle down and rent an apartment or something. She had presented the idea to Seth many times. 

"Seth, can't we just find somewhere and stay there?" Kate would repeatedly ask. "We'll run out of motels at this rate."

Seth would always stare at her and shake his head, then always say the same thing. "I've never settled anywhere my whole life, I don't see why I should start now."

And that's how it had been for the last six months, until they had found themselves in the city Poza Rica. They had been there a total of four days so far, the longest that they had remained in one place since they first hit the road. Kate especially liked the beaches and they both liked how each time they left the motel at night no Culebras had made their presence known to them both. Seth and Kate were in a busy bar late at night, drinking and making small conversation. They had been to a lot of bars in the recent months and Kate was slowly building up a tolerance for alcohol, despite not truly liking the taste of any of the beverages she had tried she would still order drink after drink. Sometimes Seth would step in and say, "Enough," with such authority that Kate would feel obligated to stop and let him walk her back to the motel, other times he wouldn't say anything and keep drinking with her. But he would never let her leave his side after what had happened with Kate and the college guy who thought he had nonnegotiable touching rights over her, the memory of that night still made him burn with anger. That and the appearance of Richie had made that night one of his all time worst nights. However, that night in that bar in Poza Rica had been memorable for the both of them. They had been drinking their drinks slowly, both not especially wanting to be in the busy bar for any reason except for the fact it would kill time for a few hours. Seth had eventually got chatting to an old looking Mexican man with a plump belly and a grey beard, the man knew some English and was telling Seth and Kate about some of the best places to eat around the area, Seth and Kate both listened politely but wasn't the least bit interested in what the old man had to say. 

"So you stay here for long time?" The man asked, his Mexican accent thick.  
"No," Seth took another gulp of his drink and rolled his eyes, his boredom showing clearly in his voice. "Moving on to the next place tomorrow. It's hard work you know, sightseeing and what not."

Kate held back a chuckle, "Ah, such shame," The man said sadly. "I have nice cheap apartment, would be perfect for nice couple like you if you were staying." 

Seth and Kate shared an amused look. "We're not a couple," Kate informed the man, wanting to laugh as she watched the embarrassment show on his cheeks. 

"Oh I'm sorry! You brother and sister then?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow, trying to work out the nature of the relationship of the two people.

Seth coughed into his drink, he placed it back on the bar and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Something like that."

"We want to know more about his apartment though." Kate chimed in. Seth shot her a look that said clearly, do we now?

"Oh," the old man said, surprised at the subject change. "It's very nice and very cheap, no strings attached. Just little money from you each month and it's all yours."

Seth stared at Kate's hopeful face for a second and sighed, he was becoming too soft. "We'll take it," he shook the delighted man's hand as Kate snuck an arm around Seth's stomach and lent into hug him briefly, conveying her gratitude towards him. 

That had happened a few weeks back, and so far staying in one place was living up to Kate's expectations, they both had a room each which was a rarity among the cheap motels they visited and it was nice not being exhausted after a full day of travelling. They brought necessities at a discount store to fill their small, basic apartment with. It was in a quiet, slightly rough area of the city but Kate liked being away from the hustle and bustle. It was round the time of ten pm when Kate marched over to a nearby park bench and threw herself down on it, angrily pulling a can of fizzy drink she had put in her overly sized pockets. She had been lying on the sofa in their living room watching TV waiting for Seth to return when he blundered into the apartment, obviously drunk and as he pushed a slightly tarty looking woman against the wall and began to kiss her hungrily and with such intensity it made Kate's stomach turn. Kate coughed loudly in annoyance and Seth's head snapped towards her, he blushed bright crimson when he saw her.

"Could you maybe not do that on our walls?" She said with disgust, she eyed up the woman. She was definitely not what she expected to be Seth's type, with her overly made up face and peroxide hair. "I don't want you to get slut on them."

"Kate-" Seth began before the woman cut him off. 

"Get out little girl," the woman commanded. Kate looked at Seth with disbelief as the woman carried on bossing her about. Seth remained motionless. "Get yourself a nice boyfriend to pull that stick from out your ass."

Kate made her way to the door and shrugged her coat on, she threw one last look of contempt at the woman. "Only if you get some self respect," she opened the door and paused before walking out and slamming it behind her. "And you might want to get an STI check afterwards, Seth."

She didn't know how long she had been sitting on that bench for when somebody approached Kate and asked her a question, making her nearly jump to her feet and point her gun at them. Instead she looked up in shock, only to see a tall girl around her age standing in front of her with a cigarette hanging lazily in her mouth. 

"Sorry, what did you say?" Kate asked apologetically. 

"I said, do you have a light?" The girl rolled her eyes. 

"Yeah," Kate reached into her pocket and handed her a lighter, the girl took it from her and lit up her cigarette before handing it back to her. 

"Thanks."

"No problem," Kate replied as she stuck the lighter back in her pocket. She watched as the girl sat down next to her on the bench and took a long drag from her cigarette.

"So," the girl faced Kate. She had long black hair that she had tied up into a high ponytail, and thick eyebrows that framed her green eyes. "Why are you sad enough to come to park by yourself at night?"

"Why are you?" Kate challenged, jumping to her own defence. 

The girl laughed good-naturedly and flicked some ash of her cigarette, "Only so much arguing with my parents I can take."

Kate chuckled and took a swig of her drink. "I guess I know the feeling."

"That why you're out here too?" 

"Something like that." They sat in silence for a while, not really knowing what to say to each other. This was the first person Kate had held a conversation with who wasn't Seth, or somebody who she had to distract on a job or somebody who she exchanged a few words with in a bar. It was a nice feeling, like a piece of normalcy she hadn't had since she first jumped in the car with Seth.

"Im Carmen, by the way." They shook each other's hand. 

"Kate," she smiled as their handshake dropped. "You speak pretty good English."

"Thanks, my mother comes from the states," she blew smoke from her cigarette away from Kate before facing her again. "You come from the states?"

"Yeah, but I live here now."

"Cool, what school do you go too?" Carmen asked curiously. "I don't think I've ever seen you in mine."

"I dropped out," Kate said quickly, uncomfortable with how personal the conversation was turning, she didn't think it was a good idea for this stranger to know such little details about her. 

"I wish I could drop out," Carmen replied wistfully. "Me and school don't really mix well."

"There's certainly a lot more to life than algebra," Kate said dryly as she lent over to the bin next to her and dropped her empty can in. She stood up from the bench and stretched then turned to face Carmen again. 

"You're pretty cool, Kate," she flicked her cigarette on the floor and stamped on it before standing up as well. "We should hang out sometime when it isn't dark and cold."

Kate stared for a few seconds before smiling warmly at the girl. It would be nice to have a friend. "Sounds good to me," they exchanged numbers with promises of meeting up in the next few days, and then Kate went off back into the night towards their apartment, clutching at the gun in her pocket and hoping that Seth had finished whatever he was doing with that awful woman. She didn't want to interrupt another disgusting scene. 

~

"So, what was under your skin last night, Little Lady?" Seth Gecko said as he emerged into the kitchen from his room, his dark hair tousled from sleep, and from sex, Kate expected. He was wearing a white wife beater and some black shorts that put his tattoo and the many scratches from Culebra attacks on his legs on full display. Kate was busy making some toast for herself as he came in. 

"Nothing," she said without looking up. "I just didn't really appreciate you bringing her back, that's all."

"Why did it bother you?" Seth asked as he watched the blushing girl with amusement. "I've brought women back before."

"Yeah, but those women weren't in our living room and being a bitch to me," she snapped and met his eyes. "Thanks for sticking up for me by the way." She said, the sarcasm was not lost on Seth. 

"You did start it," he laughed. "You said she would get slut on our walls."

"Yeah," she shrugged her shoulders and bit into her toast. "I was persuading you for ages to let us get an apartment, it's only natural I would want to keep it clean."

Seth laughed and grabbed some orange juice from the fridge and started to pour himself a glass. "Well, no need to worry, Princess." He leant against the counter as he faced her and took a sip of of his juice. "I kicked her out after you left."

"Why?" 

"When you tell a man he might need an STI check afterwards it's really hard for him to get the fuel back to carry on," he admitted.

"Too much information," Kate laughed and shook her head. "You want some toast?"

~

Kate and Carmen's friendship had grown considerably over the course of a few weeks, Kate was finding the mischievous girl a joy to be around and was starting to feel a little bit like her old self when she was around her, and less like the girl who carried a gun everywhere she went. Carmen was slowly teaching Kate the language as she disgusted when she first found out that Kate didn't even know a single word. 

"Kate," she had chastised, shaking her head. "How do you expect to live in Mexico when you can't even ask where the nearest taco stand is?"

Carmen's mother had even offered Kate a job in a restaurant that she owned, it was busy one in the heart of the city with cute little flower boxes in the windows. It was tiring work and Kate walked home with aching feet everyday, but it was worth it as she got to practice the language, earn some money which meant having to do less jobs with Seth and spend sometime with Miguel occasionally who also worked there. Miguel was Carmen's twin brother who had certainly piqued Kate's interest, although she wouldn't be admitting that to Carmen anytime soon. He was muscular and tall with the same dark black hair and green eyes as Carmen, but the twins were vastly different in personality. Carmen was loud and sometimes slightly obnoxious, whilst Miguel was shy and reserved, they balanced each other out perfectly. The three of them had hung out together frequently and Kate was starting to grow more and more fond of Miguel's easy company. 

"Kate," Miguel shouted slightly. Kate walked over to him and he passed a tray with plates filled with food on them. It was a Thursday evening at the restaurant and it was already bustling. He blushed as Kate's fingers brushed against his own. "This is for table five, could you take them please?"

"Sure," she smiled at him and turned away, feeling smug at the effect she seemed to have on him, it was always a nice feeling when you think somebody is interested in you. She walked over to table five and began setting the plates down in front of them, trying hard to remember what Carmen and her family had been trying to teach her over the last few weeks. "Aquí está su pedido . Algo más que pueda hacer por usted o si usted tiene cualquier problema, hágamelo saber. Gracias y disfrutar de su comida."

She breathed a sigh of relief when the patrons took their food with gracious smiles and thanks, she was finding learning the language daunting despite how well everyone was telling her she was picking it up. She busied herself by going to each of her tables and checking that everything was all okay, then helping the other serves carry their orders to their tables and doing any drinks that needed to be done, she was feeling rushed and she was stressing herself out but she didn't want it to seem to Carmen and Miguel's mother that she wasn't working hard, not even for a second. She was grateful to have the job and wanted to keep the financial support it was bringing Seth and herself. Kate didn't want to give any reason for Seth to declare that they couldn't afford the apartment anymore and then up and leave to the nearest motel, she liked the life she was building for herself in Poza Rica. Before she knew it the clock had struck midnight and the workers including Kate were piling out the door, desperate to get to their houses and relax. Miguel had offered Kate a lift home in his car and she accepted, grateful that she wouldn't have to have to walk home, the air was chilly and the restaurant was quite a distance away from her apartment. They walked out of the restaurant in in a group with the other workers, laughing at a joke one of the bar staff had cracked. 

"My car is round the corner," he gestured towards it and Kate started to following him, buckling her oversized coat as she did so. She stopped in her tracks when she heard a man cough and address her. 

"Kate," Seth was leaning against the wall of the restaurant, half covered by the darkness.

"Oh!" Kate said, slightly surprised to see him standing there. "Hi Seth. What are you doing here?"

"I've been at the bar," he stepped closer towards her and raised an eye Miguel who was standing there quietly with his hands in his pockets, looking at Seth with interest. "I thought I'd wait for you to finish and walk back with you."

"Oh. Miguel said he would give me a lift home," she looked at Miguel who shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Miguel is Carmen's brother by the way." She said, trying to diffuse the defensive look that had crossed Seth's face as he looked Miguel up and down.

Seth gave a short laugh, "You're Carmen's brother?" 

"Sadly yeah," he grasped Seth's hand and shook it firmly.

"I feel sorry for you, I don't know how you cope." Seth had found Kate's new friend's non-stop chatter and endless questions highly annoying.

"Do you want a lift home too?" Miguel asked.

"Nah, it's fine," Seth shook his head and began to back away. "I'll walk."

"I'll walk with you," Kate said quickly. She looked over at Miguel and met his eyes. "You don't mind do you?"

Miguel shook his head. "Well only if you're sure," Seth said as Kate walked over to him and slipped her arm through his. 

"Bye Miguel," they waved to each other then turned their separate ways and Seth and Kate walked slowly down the street arm in arm. 

"That you're new beau then, Princess?" Seth teased. "I saw the way you looked at him so lovingly."

"Shut up," Kate huffed, tugging her arm out of his and marching forward. 

"Ah, I'm just teasing," he caught up with her swung his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into him as they walked. "I'm just jealous you don't look at me like that." He whined jokingly. 

Kate scoffed and ducked under his arms. "Have you been drinking?"

"When do I not?" He waggled his eyebrows at her. 

"It's not something to be proud about," she rolled her eyes and they crossed the street, nearing the corner that turned towards the neighbourhood where their apartment was.

"You weren't saying that last week on Thursday when I had to come and carry you home from your little excursion into town with Carmen," he teased her again. 

"That was a one off," Kate tried to justify. "It was a lack of judgement on my part."

"Yeah, because it isn't easy to judge what several shots of just about everything is going to do to you," he drawled. 

Kate was about to reply scathingly when a Culebra jumped out of the shadows and grasped her from behind, Kate screamed and began to struggle ruthlessly, lashing out with her legs behind her. The Culebra responded by only gripping her tighter and cupping her mouth with their scaly hand making Kate unable to move her top half at all, she could only kick out to strong, unfeeling legs. Kate's pleading eyes met Seth's.

"Ah shit," Seth grabbed a knife from his pocket and held it threateningly towards the Culebra. "Let her go you piece of shit." He growled. 

"I don't think so,"' the Culebra hissed, laughing at Seth which infuriated him. He didn't even have to look behind him to know that two more Culebra had sneaked behind him. "We only want your little girlfriend here, you can't walk away unharmed if you just put your weapon down."

Kate's stomach dropped at those words. 

"No fucking chance," Seth snarled. "Get your hands off her. Now."

The Culebras behind him moved towards him, ready to grab him and no doubt rip his throat out. Maybe even turn him like his younger brother. But Seth was too quick for them. The adrenaline coursed through him as he threw his knife in the air towards the Culebra, it sailed millimetres from Kate's face and plummeted into the Culebra's eye. A split second passed and the Culebra dropped his arms releasing Kate, clutching its face in pain and shock as it fell backwards. The Culebras behind him hissed and started to to gather round the back of him. 

"Run, Kate!" Seth commanded. 

"I have to help-" she breathlessly replied. 

"Now!" He snarled as he staked a Culebra that attempted to bite into his neck. Kate obeyed and ran away as fast as she could, willing herself not to look behind her and just keep running. After what seemed like years she reached the apartment building. She ran up the flight of stairs towards the apartment they shared, ignoring the fact that her heart was beating violently against her chest and the struggle of her breath. She slammed the door behind her and locked it, immediately drawing all the curtains, immersing the apartment in darkness. She grabbed a stake from her bedroom drawers and leant against the wall near the front door, poised for an attack in case one of the Culebras came knocking. Guilt flooded through her for leaving Seth behind her, he would never do that to her. She felt disgusted at herself for giving up so easily but the Culebra's words had shook her. 

"We only want your little girlfriend here." 

So it was official. All the Culebras that had been attacking them over the months had been after her, and her only. Seth had been risking his life time after time for her. She wouldn't be surprised if Seth decided to pack up and leave. She hoped with all her heart he wouldn't do that. She might not be alone now, with her friends and her job, but despite everything, somewhere down the line, Seth had grown to become her family. He'd taught her skills that she never would've got without him. He defended her when someone spoke to her out of term or made an advance on her that she really didn't want. He'd walked in to town in the early hours of the morning for pain relief when her period pains had been too much for her to bear. He had held her when the nightmares came and when she thought her heart might break from the grief of loosing her family. He had dinner waiting for her after work even though he was a terrible cook, he would always try. He waited for her just so she wouldn't have to walk home by herself in the dark. He had let her jump into the car with him all those months ago. Kate wouldn't know what to do with herself if Seth decided to leave her. 

If he survives. She squashed the though down immediately. Seth had to survive. He was a survivor. He survived jail and all those bank robberies and everything that happened at the Titty Twister and every attack that a Culebra had thrown at him, despite receiving multiple injuries from them. Kate had nursed every one of those injuries and he had fought the pain away, barely making a noise when she had to stitch something up or pull nails from the Culebra out of the deep scratches he often got. Kate was so desperate for Seth to return she found herself praying to God. Something that she hadn't done in a long time. 

~

An hour passed before Seth crashed through the door, blood covering half of his face and neck. 

"Seth," Kate cried, hurling herself into his arms. "Are you okay? Did they bite you?"

"Whoa, whoa. Easy there, Princess," he placed his hands on her shoulders and moved her back, looking at her in the eyes. "I'm fine, Kate. Honestly I'm fine. They wished they could bite me." He gave a short laugh and flung his jacket over the sofa. 

"What do they want," she said quietly, close to tears. "Why does this keep happening? We can't ignore it anymore."

"Hey, hey," he hugged her as she broke down, stunned by her reaction. 

"They want me, Seth," She cried hysterically into his shoulder. "They want me! All this time they've been attacking us, and you've been fighting them not even caring to know the answer and they want me Seth."

"And what's the point here, Princess?" He asked as he stroked the back of her head, trying to soothe her tears. 

"You've been risking your life for me Seth," she gulped. "All this time you've been risking your own neck for me."

"Well I guess I'm just going to have to risk it more, aren't I?"

She stepped out of the hug and looked at him, tears still streaming down her face. "What?"

"Christ, Kate," he shook his head and raised his voice slightly. "You honestly think I was going to leave you or something?"

Kate stayed silent. 

"Kate, I'm in way too deep to just leave," he waved his arm around the apartment. "Look around, Kate. Do you really think I would give this up? I'm finally somewhere that doesn't have police sniffing round my arse. I have a family."

"Richie's your family," she said quietly. 

"No, Kate," he shook his head and cupped her face as tentatively as the time he held it after their first Culebra attack. "I lost a brother that night, and yeah it's fucked me up. It's probably fucked me up a lot, actually. But I've gained so much more."

Both Seth and Kate was startled by the confession and it was just silent for a second as they looked into each other's eyes. "I gained so much more too," Kate whispered, and before they knew it they were hugging tightly again, as the world would end if they ever let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's important that Kate has someone to talk to who isn't Seth or is involved with the whole Culebra situation, hence Carmen. :)  
>  Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! update will be coming soon!


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning both Seth and Kate were discussing the attack the previous night, it was a lot easier to think back on it now that their heads were clear from the initial shock and the conversation that followed.

"I'm sorry, but you can't have your late night strolls anymore," Seth had said as they sat in the living room eating their breakfast. "But if you go out by yourself at night now you're just walking straight into their trap."

"I know, I promise I won't go out at night without you," she sighed. "I'm thinking maybe we should get in touch with Ranger Gonzalez."

Seth made a face that clearly showed that the Ranger wasn't his favourite person and couldn't think of anything worse to do. "And why do we need to bring the Ranger into this, exactly?"

"Because he was nice to me in the Twister and oh I don't know, maybe I want to hope that there's somebody out there who might have an idea of why this is happening to me or might help us fight?" She sarcastically replied, screwing her face up at Seth. 

Seth shook his head. "I know he liked you and everything and he was really good at killing them, but he told them all that if he came anywhere near him or his family he'd rip their hearts out with his bare hands," Seth placed his bowl on the coffee table in front of him and switched on the TV. "So something's telling me he's probably not going to want to get involved."

"Fine. I won't call him," she was silent for a second. "But I think I know two people who will know exactly why this is happening."

"Kate," Seth warned, he had an idea where this conversation was going and he knew he wasn't going to like it. 

"Oh, come on Seth," Kate whined. "Santanico is some important vampire goddess or queen or whatever she's meant to be and Richie is her right hand guy, they're bound to know something!" She hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to carry on or not. 

"Kate."

"Or maybe even controlling something..."

"Kate, seriously that's enough," Seth snapped. "I admit it may be a possibility but I very highly doubt it."

"Why?" Kate challenged. "Why are you so sure on this?"

"Because Richie wouldn't send somebody to do his dirty work for him," Seth said, his eyes never wavering from Kate's. "He'd do it himself."

Seth's reasoning made no difference to Kate. "So?" She challenged again. 

"So," Seth began, his expression hardening in annoyance. "We haven't seen him in six, nearly seven months. If he wanted you so bad he would've came for you himself already."

~

Kate didn't have work that day so she invited Carmen round to keep her company after she had finished school while Seth went out and did whatever he just so happened to do during the day.

"My friend from school is having a party tonight. You should come," Carmen said. "Mum said that you've been working really hard at the restaurant, it would be good for you to relax and have fun."

"I guess," Kate shrugged, she wasn't really that fussed about going and just found it easier to agree.

"Miguel will be there..." Carmen revealed causally. 

"Really?" Kate perked up.

"HA!" Carmen jumped from the bed in triumph and pointed at Kate. "I knew it! I knew you liked my brother!"

"You got me," Kate threw her hands up in mock surrender. "Who wouldn't? He's hot and a nice guy."

"Gross, Kate," she sat back on the bed and mocked throwing up. "But it's cool, I think he likes you back and I'd much rather have you as his girlfriend than someone else. But..."

"But what?" Kate prompted, sensing her friend's hesitancy. 

"I just always thought there was something going on with you and Seth," she shrugged and looked at the bed. 

"Why did you think that?" Kate questioned as made a face at her friend. 

"Well you're both pretty close and it's obvious he's not your Dad or brother or something."

"He's definitely not one of those," Kate laughed. 

"So then what is he?" Kate looked to see that Carmen was completely serious, something that her friend hardly ever was. "Why do you live with guy that's so apart in age from you? You can tell me Kate."

"He's not that old. He's like twenty-eight or something," she replied meekly. "And it's complicated Carmen. Like really complicated. You won't believe me even if I told you."

"Well when you're ready to tell me, I'm here," she brightened up and changed the subject. "So you're definitely coming tonight?"

"Yeah I'll come," she admitted defeat. "I don't have anything to wear though."

"Don't worry about that," Carmen grinned. "I'll bring something round later."

~

Seth was sprawled out on the sofa as he absentmindedly flicked through the channels on the TV, never lingering on one for more than a few seconds. He felt so bored and lethargic that he couldn't even bring himself to walk to the bar to kill away the hours that seemed to be passing by so slowly. He considered asking Kate if she wanted to go out anywhere but he could hear loud laughter coming from behind her bedroom door that sounded like it was coming both from her and her pesky friend Carmen. A few minutes later her bedroom door banged open, Seth's head snapped towards it and saw both of the girls walking out, both of them dressed like they were about to spend the whole night clubbing. 

"Where are you going?" Seth asked suspiciously from the sofa, he couldn't recall Kate mentioning anything to him about going anywhere.

"Out," Kate said simply as she closed her door behind her. 

"Well that part obvious," Seth huffed. "I meant where as in the name of the place that you are going."

"To our friend's house," Kate said in a bored tone as she rolled her eyes. 

"Looking like that?" Seth questioned in a concerned tone, sounding way too fatherly for Kate's liking. 

"She looks good, doesn't she Seth?" Carmen asked innocently, earning a burning glare from Kate which Carmen chose to ignore. "I keep telling her how good she looks but she never listens, she might believe it coming from you."

Kate and Seth stared at each other for a second. Kate felt her face becoming flushed at the intensity of his stare, yes it was true she didn't believe she looked good, she wasn't used to little sparkly black dresses that showed her legs and that little bit more cleavage than she would be comfortable showing. She watched as Seth's eyes drifted down her body as if he was examining it, his face not giving an inkling to what he was thinking. Kate desperately wanted to know what he was thinking, she felt even more self-conscious under his stare. 

"You look stunning, Princess." The awestruck words had slipped out of Seth's mouth before he even knew what he was saying. Now it was his turn to burn bright red, Carmen's mouth took the perfect shape of an "o" and stared at Kate with wide eyes, Kate was looking at Seth liked he had announced he was a born again Christian and was going to take up knitting professionally. 

"I-uh-uh-," Kate stammered, unable to bring any coherent sentence out of her mouth. 

"Be back before dark," Seth reminded her hurriedly before turning his back on them and faced the TV again and determinedly stared at it, the redness in his face still visible. 

"Yep," Kate squeaked as she grabbed Carmen's arm and pulled her out of the apartment with her. 

"He calls you Princess?" Carmen gasped loudly as Kate pulled her out. 

"SHUT UP, CARMEN." Kate shouted as she banged the door shut. 

Seth buried his face in his hands and groaned loudly, he didn't know what had came over him in those few short seconds. He was half expecting the ghost of Jacob Fuller to be standing before him when he looked up, no doubt wanting to kill him for even setting eyes on his innocent daughter. 

~

Darkness had shrouded the outside of the apartment fully, and there had been absolutely no sign of Kate Fuller. Despite of himself, Seth began to grow worried. She had promised not be in the dark without him, and she had said that she would be home before dark. So where was she? Had Culebras gotten hold of her? Seth wouldn't ever be able to forgive himself if they had, he was meant to be protecting her from them but instead he had let her walk out of the apartment in a pretty little dress that offered no protection with her annoying friend who probably didn't even have the strength to lift up a bag of flour, let alone fight a Culebra. He hoped desperately that she had a gun or a small stake in that tiny bag she carried with her out the door. 

It was three in the morning before Kate stumbled into the apartment, interrupting Seth in his panicked pacing. His eyes snapped towards hers and they both stopped dead as Kate met his with the same intensity.

"Where the fuck were you?" Seth snapped.

"Out enjoying myself, what's the problem?" She snapped back angrily.

"The problem is you come home well after the time I specifically told you too!" he shouted, enraged at her attempt to argue back at him. 

"Why do you care?" She shouted back at him as she threw her bag down on the floor and stepped towards him. The alcohol she had drank had started to effect her and she was feeling reckless, and more than capable of taking on Seth Gecko. 

"I'm not sure," he growled sarcastically as he stepped closer. "Maybe it's because I've risked my neck, literally I may add, for you?" 

"Nobody asked you too," she spat. "You could've left. Nobody was stopping you."

"Well just be thankful that I didn't, Princess, or else they would have that pretty little neck of yours now, wouldn't they?" The nickname that she was normally indifferent to made her boil with rage as he stepped closer and closer to her. He brushed a small segment of her hair near her neck that revealed a veiny red mark, he ran his fingers over it as he mocked her. Kate's skin burned where his fingers trailed. "But it looks like somebody beat the Culebras to it. Was it your little Mexican boy-toy who did this?"

"What business is it of yours?" Kate breathed heavily, her eyes narrowing at the man who had stepped so close to her she could also feel his rage coming off his body. It frightened her. 

"I'm just looking out for your best intentions, Katie-cakes." He brushed the bit of hair behind her ear and held his hand there as he stroked it. "And I thought your heart belonged to Richie. That's why you're so desperate to go looking for him isn't it?"

"My heart does not belong to your brother," she snarled. "And why is the man that destroyed my life so concerned about it?" She grabbed Seth's hand and threw it away from her, making him step back and look at her in shock. She carried on, letting the alcohol and the rage she was feeling talk for her. "The only man that can ever call me that is my father. But you killed him didn't you? Inadvertently of course, I guess I did the actual killing. But you denied our freedom, didn't you? If it wasn't for you, me and my family would be back in our home away from all this Culebra bullshit and away from you. We never would've had to venture into that temple and my brother never would've became a Culebra. Richie was going to give us the keys. He won them fair and square for me. Why did you ruin my life?" 

Seth gazed at her in shocked silence at the direction the argument had turned for a second before giving a hard, short laugh. "You're blaming me? You're really blaming me for everything that's happened and has been happening since?"

"I guess I am."

"So then why bring this up now?" He shouted. "If you feel so strongly about me ruining your life at the Twister then why did you jump into that car with me seven months ago, Kate?!"

Kate stayed silent. 

"Well?" Seth demanded angrily. "Don't have an answer? The only thing I've done since you sat in that car is protect you."

"Out of guilt, probably," Kate quipped and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I just didn't want to be alone." 

Seth shook his head and pushed past her towards the door. "Well you are now."

"Seth?" She whirled round as he made his way towards the door. She strode after him. "Seth where are you going?"

"Goodbye, Kate."

"No, no!" She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back. He wrenched it out of her grip and carried on walking. "Seth, please don't go! Please Seth. Please!"

The distraught tone of her voice made his hand linger on the door handle for a second. "Please Seth," she begged quietly. Seth could tell without even looking at her that she was crying. "Please don't leave me."

A tense few seconds passed before Seth pushed down on the handle and stepped outside, slamming the door behind him. Kate howled as she threw herself down on the floor, crying uncontrollably. Why did she say that? She hadn't even known she truly felt that way before she spilled it. Did she even feel that way or was it the alcohol talking for her? She couldn't even remember drinking that much. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her so she didn't have to sit here and feel the tightness of her chest. She wanted Seth to walk back in and exclaim that it had all been a joke and he wasn't really walking out on her. But she knew that wouldn't happen. She had took it too far this time. 

~ 

Kate had the next morning off work, so she moped around her apartment nursing her hangover and she tried to refuel the feelings of hatred that she had felt for Seth during their argument in a halfhearted attempt to make the ache of missing him fade away. But she couldn't. She doubted the feelings were even true. She remembered how he asked her his question, why did she get in the car with him? She said how she didn't want to be alone, which was hundred percent true and still was. But she didn't reveal the fact that at the time she had felt no animosity towards him like she had implied, she knew that she should've hated him, but she couldn't make that feeling appear. She still couldn't now. And now she had lost him for good.

Carmen had came to the apartment that day after receiving a distressed, tearful phone call from Kate spilling to her what had happened with Seth, twisting only the parts about what they were arguing about. She wasn't ready to confess the part of her life that involved Culebras and the events at the Twister to Carmen yet. 

"I don't blame him for reacting that way to the hickey," Carmen admitted as she handed a hot drink she had made to Kate. "But that doesn't mean it's right. He shouldn't of done that. He's a grown man for goodness sake, he can't just leave a vulnerable teenager by herself."

"Why don't you blame him?" Kate asked curiously as she took a sip of her drink. 

"Well when I did my innocent showing you off to him it was obvious by the way he looked at you that he doesn't see you as just a friend," Kate began to protest but Carmen waved them away. "I'm serious, Kate. I've never seen somebody look at someone else so intensely." 

"He's an intense guy," Kate said truthfully. "It doesn't mean anything."

"Oh Kate," Carmen sighed. "Put two and two together. He likes you. And not in a pesky little sister kind of way. Why do you think he threw a bitch fit over you coming home late and that hickey my stupid brother gave you?"

Kate hesitated, "I really don't think he does see me that way..."

"Bullshit, Kate. I've seen you both together. Sparks seem to fly when you're near each other," she gave a small laugh as Kate pushed her. "But put an end to this whole thing with you and Miguel. He's coming between you and Seth, and nobody should come between family. And I see more of a loss between you and Seth than I do between you and Miguel, and I'm not just saying that because he's my brother." She stood up ready to leave for her shift at the restaurant. 

"Thanks, Carmen. For everything. I would be going crazy without you," the two friends hugged. 

"Oh, I know," she grinned. "But seriously think about what I said between you and Seth. Because I know that deep down you know that I'm right, so stop being in denial."

Kate was starting to think of less and less reasons to disagree with her. 

~

Two nights passed and during each one Kate had woke up screaming into the darkness covered head to toe in a cold sweat. A few panicked seconds would pass before Kate remembered that Seth had left and he wouldn't come rushing through the door ready to protect her from a Culebra or comfort her from her nightmares. And it was because of her. Every second was consumed by thoughts of Seth, where he was, if he was safe, did he miss her too? She wanted to make breakfast again with him in the mornings, she wanted to get takeouts with him and eat them as they watched hours of crap TV, she wanted to have their little trips to the bar and wander around the town aimlessly together just to kill time. It pained her to admit she would happily commit another robbery on a gas station or shop just to be with him. Just anything to make the apartment that had once felt like home and her life stop feeling like an empty shell of what they had once been. 

That's when Kate felt the reality slam down hard on her chest.

Maybe she had more than just friendly feelings towards Seth Gecko.

-

Two weeks came and went, and Kate learned to numb her feelings concerning the man she had decided to longer think about. Attempt to not think about, anyway. The odd wave of missing him would crash over her, but it would be quickly replaced with contempt. She didn't need him, she would tell herself constantly. Kate was more than capable of keeping the apartment and her life by herself during the day, it's just at night the fear would return as she would lock herself inside and sleep restlessly with both a gun and a stake by her bedside. 

A busy, stressful shift at the restaurant finishing in the late afternoon had left Kate feeling exhausted as she walked up the many flights of stairs leading up to her apartment. She crashed down onto the sofa and snuggled into the pillows, her eyes felt like sandpaper as she rested them, welcoming the beginnings of sleep that was pulling her.

Darkness had fallen and the apartment was still when Seth Gecko cautiously opened the door to the apartment, he stepped through and closed the door gently, not wanting to make the loud thump it normally produced as it closed. He crept across the living room towards his room, intending to pack a bag full of his belongings and leave once more. That was the plan until a floorboard creaked loudly under his shoe, revealing a startled Kate Fuller as she leapt from the sofa and brandished her gun at the intruder. Seth spun just as quickly and aimed his at her too. 

"Oh," Kate said flatly and she aimed her gun steady at Seth. "It's you."

"Yeah, it is," Seth replied, eyeing her and her gun warily. "Are you going to drop that gun?"

"Only if you drop yours."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before they both dropped there guns to the floor, Kate strode over to him and thumped him hard in the shoulder. He remained motionless as she punched him over and over again in frustration.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" She screamed angrily. She shoved him and he stumbled back a few steps before steadying himself. "YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER ASSHOLE!"

"Whoa!" He caught her fist as she attempted to hit him again and held it up, she struggled to get it free. "Are you done?"

She huffed and held her arm still. "I'm done."

"Okay, I'm going to let go of your arm and you're not going to act like a crazy bitch. Do you understand?"

"I understand." She forced her voice to sound calm. He dropped her arm and looked like he was about to say something as Kate brought her arm back up and punched him square in the face. He clutched at it in pain and shock as he stumbled back again. 

"What the fuck?!" He sputtered. "Have you lost your damn mind?!" 

"Nope," she replied breathlessly as she shook her hand in pain. "You deserve it."

"Yeah, well I won't contest to that." He pulled back his hand and looked down, a small amount of blood was smeared on it, showing that his nose was bleeding slightly. "Brilliant."

"Now I'm done," she crossed her arms across her chest. "Why are you back here, Seth?"

"I just came to get myself a bag, then I'll be off again." He turned around and began to walk towards his room.

Kate grabbed his arm. "You could stay, you know."

He turned round and face her again, raising his eyebrow skeptically at her. "Yeah, 'cause I really got that vibe when you were beating me." He replied sarcastically. 

"Please Seth," she circled her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I never meant any of what I said, really I didn't. I was just angry and I wanted to get back at you. Please just stay."

"No." He pushed her away from him.

"Why not?" She raised her voice and blinked back the tears. "One day you're saying that I'm you're family and the next you walk out on me. That's bullshit. Family just don't walk out on each other after an argument!" 

"Kate-"

"No!" She interrupted. "You can't fuck with my feelings this way! You can't just say I'm your family, then say that I look stunning and then walk out on me then just to come back at night two weeks later! Are you trying to fuck with my mind on purpose? Because you're doing a real good fucking job!"

"I'm not trying to fuck with your mind-"

"Then stay!" She shouted. 

"I can't stay, Kate," he sighed as he stared at her so intensely Kate felt the blush creep up cheeks. "I'm a terrible person."

She stepped close towards him again and stared up at him. He didn't seem as tall as he remembered him, maybe she had grown in the two short weeks. "You're not a terrible person, you're a terrific person. You're my favourite person. It's just that every once in a while, you can be a real cunt." 

He gave a short laugh and smirked down at her. "You really want me to stay? You don't blame me?"

"I don't blame you," she breathed. She was standing so close she could smell his cologne and feel the warmth of his body, she looked in his eyes with the same intensity that he was looking in hers with. Kate couldn't figure out what was making her want to reach up and kiss Seth Gecko, but she did it anyway. She moved her lips hesitantly against his unresponsive ones as she draped her arms around his neck, embarrassment washed over her as Seth gently pulled away from her. 

"Don't, Kate," he shook his head and cupped her face gently as she looked at the floor at the floor to prevent Seth from seeing the tears filling her eyes. "You don't want this."

"I do, Seth," she said quietly. "I really do."

He was about to argue back before Kate crashed her lips to his, this time she wasn't hesitant. She tried to convey all the emotions she had been feeling for the last two weeks into that kiss. The hurt, the anger, the confusion, the desperation, the fear. She worked her lips furiously against his, something inside of Seth's brain must of snapped after a few seconds as he responded with equal fervour. They grabbed fistfuls of each other's hair as they stumbled against the wall, their bodies sparking with desire as they pressed against one and other and explored each other with their hands and mouths. Kate bit down on his bottom lip and smirked as Seth moaned into her mouth, he responded by hitching her up higher, she gasped as she felt his erection rub against her through his jeans. Now it was his turn to smirk. 

The front door clicked and footsteps walked in. They froze. 

"Well isn't this just Stockholm Syndrome at its finest," drawled Richie Gecko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love that kill bill quote haha. Comment and let me know what you think :)


	6. Chapter 6

Kate and Seth quickly sprung away from each other in shock, Kate looked into Richie's smirking face and blushed furiously and darted her eyes to the floor to avoid his piercing stare.  
"Shit," Seth muttered under his breath as he straightened out his clothes, he cleared his throat awkwardly before addressing his estranged brother who was dressed in a similar suit to the one he wore at the Twister. His hair was wore in the same slicked back style, the only thing that was different about his looks was the absence of his glasses. "What the fuck are you doing here, Richard?" 

"Maybe I just missed my older brother?" Richie said in a honeyed voice a he shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. 

"Bullshit," Seth spat loudly as he clenched his fists, making Kate wince slightly. "Why are you here and how did you find us?"

Richie ignored the first part of his question. "You left a trail of robbed banks and gas stations. Not exactly difficult to track." He replied in a bored tone. 

"Did your mistress tell you to track us?" Kate asked in mocked sweetness, recovering from her earlier shock and embarrassment. "Or have you temporarily escaped the leash?" Seth shot her an amused smirk. 

Richie sneered at Kate and threw Seth a look of disgust. "I see you've got her well trained," he looked back at Kate who was giving him a glowering look. "Well I guess you'll never know, Katie-cakes."

"Don't call her that," Seth threateningly stepped closer towards his brother, discreetly eyeing the gun on the floor that he had dropped earlier at his feet. 

"Oh yeah!" Richie tapped his head and sighed as if he just suddenly remembered something important. "Doesn't she prefer Princess these days?" 

"Well maybe if you actually asked me and stopped talking about me like I wasn't here you would find out." Kate rolled her eyes and stepped in the space between the two brothers, Seth had began to close in on Richie who was standing like a rock and smirking like he found Seth's behaviour both hilarious and beneath him. "Why don't we actually talk to each other properly instead of acting like kids."

"You are a kid," Richie quipped and shot a pointed look at Seth who reddened and glared daggers at him. 

"I'm eighteen, actually." she snapped and crossed her arms over her chest. 

"Congratulations," Richie rolled his eyes. "You now know everything there is to know about the about the world."

"You would be surprised about what I know, actually." 

"Like how to get my brother into bed?"

"Richard -" Seth began furiously.

"Because anybody can do that." Richie continued, ignoring his brother's fury. "It's not anything impressive."

Kate went slack-jawed for a split second before her expression twisted into a glowering one, then her angry eyes met Richie's icy eyes once more, and then her expression turned pitiful. "Well neither is dancing with a snake round your tits," she said in pretend thoughtfulness. "But you were pretty impressed by that weren't you?"

His eyes narrowed and transitioned into the fiery eyes of a Culebra, part of the once smooth skin on his face broke out into small parts of the reptilian like scales. When he spoke his mouth revealed his long, thin fangs. "I don't have to listen to this," he hissed and stepped closer to Kate, lowering his mouth down close to her neck. Kate shivered but did not recoil.

"Richie." Seth barked as he grabbed his gun from the floor and aimed the gun at Richie as rushed over to them both. "Richie what the fuck are you doing?"

"It'll be so easy for me to turn you like your bother," his warm breath tickled against her neck, causing Kate to shiver once more as goosebumps appeared where his breath had been. "Or to drain every last bit of blood out of your body. Have you thought of that?"

Seth pressed his gun hard at the side of Richie's head, Richie looked up at him and rolled his eyes as he smirked at the gun that would barely harm him. Kate stared at Seth and shook her head. She could handle Richie Gecko, fangs and all.

"You know, I've killed a lot of monsters like you in the recent months," Kate roughly pushed the side of his face away from her neck so his eyes met hers. "Some of them with my bare hands."

"Kate-" Seth and Richie chorused together. Seth was looking at Kate like she had gone crazy, Richie had transformed to how he was before and seemed to be intrigued at what she was saying. 

She carried on speaking before they could finish their sentences. "You're no different to them," she was like sea, appearing to be perfectly calm but ready to transform into something much more deadly in a split second. "Have you thought about that?"

Richie was silent as he surveyed the girl in front of him, properly noticing for the first time how much she had changed since he last saw her. "What do you mean you've killed more of things like me?" He questioned. 

"Kate and I have barely been left alone since we left the Twister." Seth reluctantly lowered his gun away from Richie's head. "Know anything about it?"

"No, I don't." Richie said simply. "But this does make things a whole lot more interesting."

"Stop acting so innocent!" Kate crossed her arms and gave Richie a scathing look.

"If you're implying that I have anything to do with this then you're wrong," Richie affirmed. "If I wanted to kill you so badly I would've done it myself."

Kate and Seth glanced at each other, Seth had a smug look on his face that clearly said I told you so.

"So," Seth chimed in, trying to diffuse the tension between Richie and Kate, who were both staring each other determinedly, willing the other to break. "Do you know who could be behind all of this?"

"No," he sat down on the sofa and leant back, he cupped his chin as a brooding look etched over his face, he seemed to be deep in thought. Seth and Kate stood over him with cautious looks on their faces, confused by the change in direction. "Do they say anything? Do anything suspicious?"

"What?" Seth said cynically. "More suspicious than trying to kill us?"

Richie gave a half smile. "Exactly."

~

As Seth immersed Richie in the details of all the Culebra attacks, including the most recent one after her shift at the restaurant. Kate stood by Seth's side with crossed arms in a stony silence, she couldn't trust the youngest Gecko who was sitting down in front of her, listening to Seth's words with the utmost attention, only interrupting to ask a question when he couldn't seem to get his head round something. She no longer saw him as a tortured soul. She now saw him as a pain in the ass. 

"So they said they only wanted Kate?" Richie skeptically questioned his brother. "Didn't have any interest in you?"

"All of them were only interested in killing me when I defended her," Seth shrugged. "Didn't seem to want to do that to Kate. Except the first one, he didn't give a shit whether he killed her or not."

Richie was silent for a moment. "I'm staying," he declared after a few seconds.

"No you're not," Kate argued, snapping out of defiant silence. 

"Oh, am I now?" Richie leant back further onto the sofa as if he owned it. 

"Yeah," Seth clenched his fists. "You chose Santanico, you could've left with me after the Twister. You made your choice."

"Really?" Richie replied, his brows furrowed. "Because that's not what I remember. You said not to bother coming to find you, that sounds like you doing the abandoning-"

"But-' 

"Aren't you glad I did though?"

"Not particularly," Seth asserted as he shoved his hands in his pockets and held eye contact with his brother, the distrust showing clearly through his face and eyes. 

"I don't have to listen to this," Kate muttered. "Im tired and I actually have to wake up and work tomorrow. I'm going to bed." She turned away from Richie and hugged Seth, who put a possessive arm around her waist, an action that wasn't lost on Richie. "Don't leave again," Kate whispered quietly to him, not wanting the unwanted guest on the sofa to hear her speak. 

Richie surveyed the scene in front of him with great interest, wondering when and how the nature of the relationship between the Preacher's Daughter and his brother developed into something other than captor and hostage as Seth bent down to kiss her lightly on the top of her head. They both broke from their embrace and both walked away from each other towards their respective bedrooms, not giving Richie a second glance. 

"What?" Richie laughed as he leant up from the sofa and watched the both of them as they walked away. "Do you guys not share a room?"

Kate didn't bother looking back and instead threw up her middle finger at him before slamming her bedroom door behind her. Seth threw him a deadly look and carried on walking. 

Richie smirked and laid down, resting his hands behind his head, "I guess I'm taking the sofa then." 

~

Kate's night sleep was a restless one, spent mostly with her tossing and turning in her bed, plus staring up at the dark ceiling as she tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Her life had begun to feel like it was spiralling downwards when Seth had left her, but then he returned and for those few short minutes it didn't seem all that bad anymore, in fact it had been more than great, despite the Culebra attacks that hung over her constantly like a shadow. Kate hadn't forgotten that she was wanted by the creatures that had destroyed her life, and the fact that a Culebra was currently making himself at home on her living room sofa wasn't helping her cope very well. Kate was wishing desperately that Richie's appearance wasn't going to push her life back onto that downwards spiral, she wanted nothing to ruin what Seth and herself had built. And as far as she was concerned a few pissed off Culebras was not going to change that. 

She dressed quickly, not wanting to linger in the apartment for longer than necessary. Kate cautiously opened her bedroom door and peered through, spotting Richie fast asleep on the sofa. She crept out as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake him up and be forced have to have some sort of conversation alone with him, she wanted to delay that for as long as she possibly could. Creeping past Richie whilst he was asleep (who even knew that the undead had to sleep?) and ignoring every instinct she had developed over the last seven months telling her to stick a stake right through his heart while he was vulnerable was proving to be extremely difficult for Kate, the fact that she was sure Seth would no doubt kill her in return despite the hatred he had apparently developed for his brother also made her repress the instinct further.  
Richie stirred under the blanket strewn across him and Kate froze in her tracks and looked over, watching his face twitch slightly before he sighed and rolled over to continue his sleep. Kate stood there with a sullen expression on her face as she observed just how peaceful and just how human he looked. Her thoughts drifted back to the moments with him by the pool at The Dew Drop Inn and in the back room at the Twister, and how she seemed to connect with him so easily, it couldn't be more different between them now. Kate's face and lips burned as she wondered if there was still something in his life that felt like home to him.

~

"Richie," her voice was like a beautiful forbidden melody intended only for his ears. 

Her beautiful face burned behind his closed eyes, seducing him to reach out closer to her as she appeared in and out of his vision.

"Richie," he was suddenly standing in the Mexico dessert with her plump red lips hovering barely an inch a way from his ear. "Bring her to me, Richie."

"I will," he promised as he turned the face Santanico. "But I can't just yet. Something is happening and I need to-"

"Now, Richie." She demanded, the power radiating through her voice as he burning eyes met Richie's. The wind suddenly picked up and whipped between them, making their hair blow crazily. Richie stepped back and stared at Santanico, suspicion etched clearly onto his face as he stared at the furious woman. 

Santanico noticed Richie's distrust and transformed once more into the calm, seductive woman. "Please, Richie," she said sweetly as she brought her lips close to his. "Hurry back to me..."

"Hey!" Seth shook Richie's shoulder forcibly until he jerked awake. He got up from the sofa and stretched, Seth's hand still planted firmly on his shoulder as he shook him again, just because he could. "Wake the fuck up."

Richie pushed his brother's hand away. "I am up!" He muttered as he rubbed his eyes. "What's the time?"

"Twelve in the afternoon," he sat down on the coffee table opposite and raised his eyebrow as he watched Richie light up a cigarette. "Still do that?"

"Old habits die hard I guess," he shrugged. "But not as hard as you and Kate by the looks of it."

"Something like that," Seth looked away briefly and changed the subject. "Why are you here, Richie? And no bullshit this time."

"Afraid I can't tell you that, brother."

"Oh you can tell me!" he bellowed as he stood up from the coffee table. "Or I swear to God Richard I will push you out into that sunlight and set you alight just like you did to our dickhead Father."

Richie stared at his older brother who was looming threateningly above him, his eyes dark with fury and his face glowering. He took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke towards Seth's face. "I'd like to see you try," he laughed sinisterly as he stood up from the sofa. 

"Fine. If that's how you want to play." Seth shrugged and quickly brandished a small stake from his pocket and stabbed it forcibly into Richie's side. Richie howled in pain and clutched at the stake as he fell to his knees, he pulled it out and threw it to the other side of the room. 

"What the fuck?!" He shouted as he placed his hands over the deep wound in an attempt to staunch the flow until it healed, it had been a while since he had fed and the stream of blood that was pooling onto the carpet wasn't slowing down. 

"Plenty more from where that came from," Seth grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him across the room before he could react, throwing the front door open and pushing his brother's body over the threshold into the sunlight. He kept a tight hold on him as he thrashed around from pain, the smoke from his burning skin smothering them both. "Have anything to say?" Seth asked as he shoved Richie further into the sunlight. 

"I'll talk!" Richie screamed, his skin felt like it had been doused in gasoline and then set alight, every single millimetre of his body felt like it was being individually tortured. He had never felt pain like it, this pain topped both times he was shot combined. 

"Good." Seth threw his brother on to the floor of the apartment and slammed the door behind them. Richie lay curled up and defeated on the floor, covered in angry red burns which smoked slightly. "Get up."

"I don't think I can," he mumbled into the floor as he tried to get his breath back. Breathing was another habit that died hard. "You caught me by surprise there, brother. I now see how you must of survived those Culebra attacks. I dread to see the skills Kate has apparently developed in killing us, the ones she was bragging about last night."

"Yeah," Seth agreed mercilessly. "It would be a shame if you had to experience them," he kicked his brother's side on the spot where he had staked him, making Richie curse loudly and writhe on the floor. "Now talk!"

"I was wrong about Santanico, okay!" He moaned into the carpet. "I I never should've left with her," he rolled onto his back and looked up at his brother's confused face. "I made a mistake."

Seth scoffed. "Expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth!"

He kneeled on the floor next to his brother's pained face and smirked down at him. "So did you expect to just waltz in here and be welcomed with open arms?"

Richie grinned up at his brother while he clutched at himself, the pain from Seth's torture relenting slightly. "Have I not already?"

~

Kate pulled her jacket tighter over her as she stepped out if the restaurant into the evening air, feeling thankful that she was leaving the busy shift behind her. The hours were long and her stress levels were high, but it would all be worth it when she received her paycheque at the end of the week. Her mobile buzzed loudly in her pocket, making her jump slightly in surprise. She pulled it out of her pocket and smiled as she read a text from Seth telling her that he would meet her outside, she had missed those texts. She had also missed being able to go out in the night without the fear of being overpowered by Culebra. But what she didn't like was this new feeling of intense embarrassment at the thought of being alone with Seth since their little reunion, as she watched him walk down the street towards her she decided that she wouldn't bring it up unless he did. She hoped that her red cheeks weren't too noticeable. 

"Hey," Seth greeted her as she walked towards him.

"Hey," she replied as they walked close to each other, their arms occasionally brushing up against each other. Her eyes drifted down his body. "What's with the suit?"

It was the same one he had left the Twister in. "I don't know," he shrugged. "Felt like it."

"Has Richie's appearance made you all sentimental?" She teased him, she winked at him as he shook his head at her, a small smile playing on his lips. 

"Not quite, Princess."

"Talking about Richie," Kate started after a few seconds of silence, as she watched Seth closely. "Is he still at the apartment?"

"Nah," he replied vaguely, taking a particular interest in watching a stray dog wandering on the opposite pavement. 

"Where is he then?" Kate prompted. 

Seth shrugged his shoulders as he avoided eye contact. "Meh."

Kate stared at him suspiciously. "...Meh?" Kate stopped abruptly and grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking on further without her. "What are you not telling me, Seth?"

Seth shoved his hands in his pockets and hesitated as he tried to find the right words as he still avoided her eye contact. He wasn't aware that lying to the Preacher's daughter had become so difficult. 

"Seth." She growled. 

"What he's not telling you, Kate," Richie Gecko, who was also wearing a suit seemed to appear out of nowhere, startling Kate so much she let go of Seth as she jumped back in shock. "Is that I'm trailing you both, waiting for another Culebra to attack you so I can come out of nowhere just like I did then and get information out of them Culebra to Culebra style." He nodded at her in fake encouragement. "So act natural."

"Oh, thanks Richard!" Seth shook his head in disbelief as he began to walk on again, Kate and Richie following. 

"I was only helping you out, since that whole 'act natural' thing wasn't working out for you," he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "I told you to just tell her upfront, so then at least one of you could've been cool."

"I was being cool," Seth argued.

"Oh yeah, so cool that you-"

"Enough!" Kate snapped, interrupting the brother's petty arguing. "Neither one of you is being 'cool', so shut up." The two brothers turned their nose up at her briefly before walking on again. "And the trailing is a pretty good idea."

"That was Richie's," Seth muttered. "What do you know he is actually good for something."

"I'm good at a lot of things, remember." He used his fingers as he listed off each thing for Seth's displeasure. "Job strategies, safe cracking, science, art, shooting and let's not forget knife throwing-"

"So," Kate had to walk a little faster to keep up with their brisk walks. "I take it with the childish whining and the donning of the suits the Gecko Brothers are back?"

"Something like that," the two brothers muttered simultaneously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked and let me know what you think :)


	7. Chapter 7

There had been a lot of times in Richie Gecko's life when he had to learn to shut off pain. The first time he could vividly remember was when he was nearly six years old, it had been a warm summers day and their father was fast asleep on the couch in a drunken stupor. Seth, who was seven, nearing the age of eight had persuaded Richie to climb the tallest tree in their small, unkempt garden. If he reached all the way to the top he'd find treasure so grand a pirate would be jealous. 

"Go on then," Seth goaded his little brother as they stood in front of the large sycamore tree, the uncut grass coming past their ankles. "Don't you want the treasure? Or are you too chicken?" 

He looked up at his big brother and then the tree as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. The top of the tree did seem like a long way away. "I'm not chicken," he put his hands on his hips and blew his chest out as he watched his brother tease him by flapping his arms out wildly and making squawking noises. "Fine! But when I get the treasure it's mine, I'm not giving any to you." He turned his nose up at Seth and walked over to the tree.

"That's fine," Seth nodded in pretend understanding as he tried not to laugh at his little brother trying to lift his leg high enough to begin climbing. "You're the one brave enough to go and get it. Do you need a boost?"

"No!" Richie insisted as he managed to lift his little leg that little bit higher. "I can do it."

"Remember Richie!" Seth cupped his hands round his mouth as he called out to his little brother who was slowly but surely making his way to the top. "All the way to the top!"

"I know, I know," Richie muttered as he reached out and grabbed another branch, then pulling his weight on top of it before grabbing the next one, this one was different to the others, Richie noted. It wasn't as strong as the others, it was wobbling a lot when Richie grabbed on to it. "I don't think I can go any higher, Seth!" Richie shouted down at his brother who was standing at the bottom, shielding his eyes from the sun as he watched Richie. Richie had never seen his brother look so small, he looked like he was a tiny ant on the grass and Richie was the big human looking down on it. Richie liked being the bigger one for a change. 

"Don't be stupid, Richie!" Seth called out. "I've done it loads."

"No you haven't!" Richie called back. "I've never seen you do it."

"Well I have!" Seth shook his head and boasted loudly to his brother. "Obviously you're not as strong as me."

"I am stronger than you!" Richie looked at the branch again and grabbed it, ignoring how much it pushed down under his weight compared to the others. He hauled himself up that little bit higher, then suddenly a deafening crack filled he air, Richie screamed as he felt the branch snap beneath him, he desperately grabbed out for something to hold on to but he was already falling backwards, the wind was rushing loudly in his ears as the branches in the tree went further and further away from him...

Seth's mouth hung open in silent horror as he watched his younger brother fall rapidly from the tree, it seemed to happen in slow motion despite the speed he was falling at. "Richie!" He yelled as he roughly hit the last few branches with screams of pain before landing face first on the grass with a resounding thud. Seth sprinted to his brother and turned him slowly onto his back, his glasses were smashed and his nose was bleeding heavily, there was a thin cut above his eyebrow and his right arm was sprawled out at an angle that made Seth feel nauseous just looking at it. "Richie!" He screamed again as Richie's ghostly pale face was unresponsive to his screams. 

The back door to the house swung open. "What's all this racket?!" An angry voice bellowed. Seth heart dropped as he spun round to see their father staggering towards them, swaying from side to side as he walked closer, unaware that one of his sons was lying unconscious on the floor.

"I've killed Richie," he gulped as his tears streamed down his face. "I think I've killed him, Pa!"

"What?" This revelation made him stop dead and look disbelievingly at his young son. "What the fuck are you on about?"

Seth stepped out the way, revealing the unconscious boy on the grass. "He climbed the tree because I said there was treasure and he believed me and -"

"Fucking idiot boy!" He roared and pushed Seth hard to the ground, he bent low over Richie, trying to feel for a pulse as Seth looked on at the scene with a horror-stricken look on his face, the tears pooling in his eyes distorting his vision. 

Richie awoke later that day in the room he and Seth both shared with an piercing headache that felt like it was going right through his skull and ribs that felt like they were cracked right in half. He looked groggily around the blurred room, he spotted the indistinct image of his Father through the open door sitting on the couch watching TV, he tried sitting up on the bed, only to cry out in pain when he attempted to move his right arm. His dad staggered into the room and bent low over him as he lay on the bed. 

"Everything hurts," Richie whimpered. "I need a doctor." 

"You don't need a doctor," his father hissed. "What you need to do, is stop being so damn fucking weak." He bent lower over him. "Can you not take a little bit of pain? Because I've had to put up with a lot of it having you two shits in my life."

Richie noticed a battered Seth walk cautiously into the room.

"No wonder your mother left," he continued. "You're damn stupid aren't you? Believing everything your snake of a brother tells you. What are you?"

Richie just cried as his Father's furious face got closer and closer, Richie could smell the alcohol on his breath. "I said what are you?" His Father tried again. He grew tired of Richie's sobs and grabbed his broken arm tightly. "I said what are you? And no crying!"

"Stupid." Richie gasped, trying desperately not to cry but failing miserably as his chest heaved with sobs. 

"And...?" He prompted, lightly holding his arm, ready to grip it once more.

"Weak." He whispered. 

"Yes you are." He smirked and walked away, shooting one last hateful look at Seth before walking out. Seth ran over to his brother and pulled out a sling he had made out of old cloth from under his shirt and helped his brother into it, flinching when he hissed out in pain.

"Shh," Seth instructed, pushing a finger against his brother's lips. "He'll hear."

Richie nodded and kept silent, grimacing when his brother placed his arm in in the sling. "Do you have my glasses?" 

"Yeah," he handed him the broken glasses fixed sloppily with sellotape. "I'm sorry, Richie."

"It's alright," Richie shrugged as he lay down, then winced immediately from the pain that surged through the length of his arm. He quickly tried to block out he pain, trying hard not to let it show on his face or to cry out like he had done earlier, a pretty difficult task for a six year old. But Richie Gecko wasn't going to let his father give him another excuse to mock and beat him. He wasn't weak. Instead he leant back and closed his eyes, willing himself to shut off and feel nothing. 

~

Richie had the realisation that shutting himself off and feeling nothing wasn't going to work for him this time, not in this situation. The sunlight he had once enjoyed as a human was close to burning him to a pile of dust at the floor, he was sure of it. Nobody, Human or Culebra could be experiencing this much pain and live to tell the tale. No matter how much Richie thrashed and struggled his brother's grip wasn't relenting as he burned and he knew he he act fast in order to survive, but a plan didn't come. Plans normally came as a second nature to him, his strategic thinking had been one of the main reasons for his and Seth's success and survival over the years, from petty crimes in their neighbourhood all the way through to their larger heists with a bigger score and more to sacrifice, and he had planned each and every one to the last detail. But now his mind was blank, it was focused on one thing, and that was the pure torture that was surging through him by the hand of his brother.

"Richard," Santanico suddenly appeared in the smoke before him, he went to speak and she pressed a finger to his lips with one hand and then cupped his face delicately with the other. "Don't talk, Richard." She said softly, her voice sounding like it was whispering through the smoke surrounding him. "Do you not see the truth now, Richard? He is not your brother anymore. True family would not stand by and watch one of their own burn."

She now cupped his face with both hands as her eyes became a fiery as the sun above them. "Survive for me, Richard. Do anything you must do. Take as long as you need. But bring her to me." She kissed him softly on the lips. "And you will get your reward." 

Santanico disappeared into the smoke and something inside Richie's brain snapped and fell into place. 

"I'll talk!" He screamed. 

~

Richie forced himself to sit up inside the apartment and managed to push himself up into a sitting position against the wall, panting heavily as he did so. Seth stood over him as he watched him struggle. 

"I knew basically from the first day that I had made a mistake staying with Santanico," Richie met Seth's eyes as his face grimaced from the agony that was still near on consuming him. 

"So why only show up now?" Seth questioned as he wrinkled his nose up from both the disgust and distrust he felt for his struggling sibling on the floor.

"I started tracking you a couple of weeks back, found where you were and waited till the right moment to leave," Richie panted.

"And what was this right moment, exactly?"

"It had became more obvious to me through the months that she was using me for her dirty work, but I just kept ignoring it. She had me convinced that she was in love with me, so I was more than happy to work for her. But one night I left to feed and I came back and walked in on her with some other guy. She didn't seem all that in love with me then."  
Seth noticed the flash of pain that crossed Richie's eyes, pain he was pretty sure didn't have anything to do with his still slightly smoking body. "So if this only happened recently, then why did you turn up at the bar all those months ago?" 

"Santanico and I were passing through, we decided to stop and feed. We split up, she prefers a more sophisticated feed while I like to put up a bit of a fight," he smirked at Seth's obvious disgust. "So I went to the Dive Bar, I heard some commotion round the back and decided to check it out. Imagine my shock when I saw Kate, that guy all over her and you pressing a revolver to his head." He replied with a slight laugh.

"Seems a bit too much of a coincidence," Seth replied in a steely voice. 

"Stranger things have happened, Seth," Richie grinned warily as he motioned to himself and shrugged. "Just look at me. And you and girl you once took hostage playing house happily together."

"I would say it's not all that strange," he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "It's wise to stick together when you've just left a temple full of vampires that tried to kill you both." Seth sneered at his brother that was still slumped vulnerably against the wall, the feeling of betrayal that he had kept buried within him since the night of the Twister crept up finally broke through to the surface, his voice shook slightly as he spoke again. "But I suppose you don't think that way."

"I said I made a mistake!" Richie growled angrily as he sat a little straighter. "Can you not find it in your heart to forgive your little brother?" Seth kept silent and looked at the ground, Richie sensed his brother's hesitancy and changed tactics. "Don't you want to keep Kate safe?"

Seth's eyes snapped up and met Richie's piercing stare. "What are you getting at, Richard?" He sighed as he tapped his foot impatiently. 

"Well?" Richie prompted, raising his eyebrows at Seth. "Do you?"

"Obviously," he said through gritted teeth. 

"I can help protect her," he heaved himself from the floor and walked over to Seth, he swayed slightly as he clutched his side with one hand and held his other out to Seth. "I can help you both figure all of it out and defeat whoever is responsible. All you have to do is forgive me, Seth. Please."

Seth stared down at his brother's burnt, blistered hand which was holding out hopefully for a handshake which would no doubt be the beginnings of their reconciliation and the key to keeping Kate as safe as possible. He also saw that handshake as opportunity to take down whoever was causing the attacks Gecko Style. 

He tried to squash down any bad thoughts as he shook Richie's hand firmly and both shared a smirk. And despite his better judgement he couldn't help but take part in the handshake that they did all those months ago on the park bench as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 

~

Kate couldn't help but feel thankful when she finally turned the key and stepped into the apartment. There was no attempted attacks on them as the three of them had walked and Kate had spent the time awkwardly in the middle of the two brothers who had fallen into a defiant silence.  
The three of them walked in and lingered momentarily before Richie casuallybannounced that he was going out and left into the night. Kate breathed a sigh of relief at his absence and went to switch on the TV while Seth rummaged through their kitchen. 

"You hungry?" Seth asked as he opened the fridge and scanned the shelves.

"Sure," Kate nodded and sat on the sofa as she switched repeatedly through the channels. 

"There's not much here." He observed as he looked through each of the cupboards. 

"I've only been shopping for one recently," Kate retorted. "Remember?"

"I doubt you'll ever let me forget," he muttered as Kate's eyes snapped to a large stain on the carpet. 

"Seth," Kate stood up abruptly from the sofa and glared daggers at him when he turned to face her in confusion. 

"What?" He answered cautiously as he closed a cupboard. 

"Why is there blood on the carpet?" She asked accusingly, her angry eyes following Seth as he made his way over.

"Oh," he said as a sheepish look crossed his face. "Shit, yeah. Sorry I didn't think about it staining."

"I don't care about the staining!" She corrected as she crossed her arms, her face glowering. "I care about how the fuck it got there!" 

"Richie and I had a little argument," he shrugged and smirked to himself. "Well he didn't really have a chance to argue back."

"So it's not yours then?" Seth raised an eyebrow at her sudden change from anger to apparent relief. 

"Sorry to disappoint, Princess."

"Shut up," she punched his shoulder, making him grin and shake his head. "What did you argue about?"

"It wasn't really an argument," he shrugged his shoulders. "More of a torture."

Kate's mouth flopped open briefly before she quickly snapped it shut again. "You tortured your brother?" She couldn't imagine doing something like that to Scott, him being a Culebra or not. Or maybe she could, after all he did bite their father. She preferred not to think about it. 

"I had to find out why he was really here," he replied defensively, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his brow furrowed. "It was the only way to get through to him."

"And I take it that it must of been an amazing reason since he's still here," she muttered to the floor as she avoided Seth's gaze. 

"Yeah, I guess it was," Seth agreed. The was a searching expression on his face as he watched the girl in front of him. "He abandoned Santanico and wants to help us fight whoevers doing this."

Kate's gaze flew up back to Seth and her jaw dropped. "What?" Seth scrutinised her voice in his head as he tried to detect any of the hopefulness that would've been obvious once-upon-a-time. "And you believed that?" 

"Yeah, I did."

"And you accepted his help?" Her disbelief was still evident in his voice. 

"Obviously," he rolled his eyes. "Thought you would've put two and two together when he appeared and told you that he was trailing us." He said bitterly. 

"And if he didn't tell me? And If I didn't ask if you were both back? What then, Seth? Would it of remained one big secret only the amazing Gecko Brothers could know?" 

Seth just shrugged nonchalantly.

"We don't need his help, Seth." She said softly as she stepped closer to him. "We're fine as we are."

A small smile tugged at his lips. "We need all the help we can get," he laughed slightly then stopped as he remembered something important. "I should tell you something as well. I said he could stay."

"You what?!" She roared in both anger and disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Well what am I supposed to do?" He shouted back. "He's my brother!"

"Who just so happens to be the exact same as the things trying to kill us!" She threw her arms up and stamped her foot furiously. "You're so fucking stupid!" 

His face twisted and his eyes glowed with fury as he stepped closer to Kate, he towered over her as he looked down, Kate met his eyes unwaveringly. "Firstly, Princess," he began, his voice dangerously low as held one finger up. "I'm not stupid. I'm actually pretty fucking smart. Two." He held up another finger. "I know what the fuck I'm doing. Thirdly." He held up a third finger. "Are you telling me that your brother, who's also a Culebra like mine in case you had forgotten, comes to you begging for forgiveness and that he wants to be your family again you would just turn him away?"

"That's completely different." She replied, her voice sounding brittle.

"Hardly," he scoffed. 

"It is." She broke the intense eye contact between them and stared at the floor.

"How?" He asked. "Come on. Enlighten me." 

Kate's tear filled eyes met his once more, the appearance of the tears threw Seth a little bit. It had been a while since he'd been in contact with a crying Kate. "It just is," a large sob broke out of her. She turned a ran to her room as she dissolved into tears, slamming the door so hard behind her the apartment seemed to shake.

Seth stared at the door as he tried to ignore the feelings of regret beginning to gnaw away at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think :) update coming soon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope this is okay haha, this is more of a filler chapter than anything else, hope you like it and let me know what you think :)

The car's heater blasted warm air around the car, warming the occupant from the chilled night air outside. She sat patiently as she waited for her companion to return. 

The drivers door opened and a sullen looking man sat down at the wheel and slammed the door shut. He gripped at the steering wheel as he started the engine and began to drive as he stared determinedly at the road ahead of him, every so often his jaw would twitch slightly as he struggled to keep clear anger at bay. 

"What happened, Richie?" Santanico asked, her voice was a mixture of sweet softness and concern, she placed a manicured hand lovingly on his arm. "Tell me."

"Seth happened," Richie replied through gritted teeth, he suddenly swerved the car out and overtook a particularly slow elderly woman who waved her hand towards him in disgust. 

"You saw Seth?" Her eyes widened slightly and she raised her eyebrows. Her hand was still resting on his arm. "Where?"

"At the back of a bar I went to feed at," he grumbled as he slightly relaxed under Santanico's hands as she began to lightly stroke his arm. "Just my fucking luck."

"What did he say?" She questioned, she was curious at what had happened to make Richie so on edge, and exactly why his deluded brother had been hanging around. "Do you know why he was there?"

"No different than what he said at the bar. Doesn't want me anywhere near him. The same old shit," he stared silently at the road ahead for a few moments before carrying on in a slightly bitter voice. "Didn't have a problem leaving with Kate though."

Santanico's thoughts whirred round her head before the memory fell into place. "Kate was the girl at the table?" She could picture her now, the boring brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and her plain face that was nothing special and as equally forgettable as the rest of her. What had truly stood out about the girl though, the one thing that had made her unique in the sea of insignificant faces in the dark bar was the small glow that seemed to emit from her. It was faint, but it was there, invisible to those who could not see how Santanico could see. 

"That's her," he said bitterly then gave a short laugh. "Funny really. He chose a teenage girl he took hostage over his own brother who busted him out of jail and continuously saved his ass." He gripped the steering tighter. 

"Oh Richie," she took her hand away from his arm and instead stroked the back of his head tenderly as she leant into him. "You are so much better than them. You are more powerful and intelligent than they will ever be. They will always be nothing compared to you, Richie. Don't worry..." She brought her red lips close to his ear as she whispered seductively, "I will always want you." A shiver travelled down Richie's spine and he tried hard to focus on the road in front of him, but it was pointless. His other senses were starting blur as every part of him became focused on the beautiful, seductive woman by the side of him who was planting soft kisses on his ear and slowly working her way down his neck. Each soft kiss burned into Richie's skin, leaving him craving the next before her lips had barely left his skin. 

"Pull over." She demanded huskily into his ear.

Richie didn't need to be told twice. 

~

Seth knocked tentatively on Kate's bedroom door as he cringed at her loud sobbing. He hadn't had a lot of experience with crying females, he didn't remember his mother crying when she was around, but then he couldn't really remember her at all. He had made a few girls cry back in high school (when he had bothered to show his face), mostly because of failing to stay faithful in their immature romances, but that had never bothered Seth, he had always been a "love 'em and leave 'em" kind of guy. That was until he had met Vanessa. He hadn't been prepared for what Vanessa had thrown at him. When he first met her she was of only one use to him, and that was her role as a hidden accomplice to himself and Richie as they robbed a large bank in Kansas. All that Vanessa had to do was blend in with the other customers as they made their transactions and then play the act of a hysterical victim when Seth grabbed her from behind and shoved a gun to her head as he demanded large amounts of money for her life. But instead she had joined in with stealing. Vanessa had slowly and successfully stolen his heart, and his sanity. Seth didn't like thinking about the last moments she had spent as a free woman before being carted away to jail was spent crying over him and fighting for him in front of a Big Kahuna Burger, that only just added to the heap of guilt he had been building.

"Who is it?" Kate's hoarse voice sounded through the door, she rubbed her now dry eyes in a half-hearted effort to hide their redness.

"Who do you think?" Seth sighed.

"The dickhead who lives with me?"

Seth repressed the urge to hit her door and instead gritted his teeth as he forced himself to smile. "Correct," he leant closer to the door and raised his voice as he grew more impatient. "So can I come in now?" A few seconds of silence passed. "Please?" Seth added reluctantly. 

"Well there's two dickheads who live with me now so you're gonna have to be more specific."

"Kate-" he growled as his patience wore thinner and thinner.

"Fine!" She shouted from her bed and crossed her arms in defeat as she glared daggers at the door. "Come in."

Seth stepped through the door and gazed around Kate's bedroom, looking for any changes she might of made in his short absence. But everything was the same, the same posters of famous boy bands that Kate liked but Seth had never heard off before (but that didn't stop him detesting them any less) were dotted around the walls, the double bed with flowery bedsheets covered in so many pillows Seth had to shove a few off on to the floor as he sat down on the edge. His eyes drifted up to the large notice board that hung above her bed, Kate had been slowly been pinning pictures from the last months on the board as memories and to make the room seem as homely as her bedroom back in Bethel was. The majority of the pictures was of herself and Carmen and the both of them hanging out with their other friends. Seth was surprised to see a picture of himself and Kate on her eighteenth birthday slap in the middle of them all, Kate's smiling face and his slightly deadpan expression made quite the contrast. He remembered the moment in the picture well, they had been at a rowdy bar in a small town he no longer remembered the name of quietly drinking together as they celebrated her birthday in a way that was no doubt the exact opposite of how Kate had once imagined celebrating the beginning of her adult life, which seemed to hang heavily in the air between them. Even when she had pulled her phone out and forced Seth to take part in what she so affectionately called a "selfie" as if there was absolutely nothing wrong. Seth always felt the most guilty in moments like those.

"You gonna say anything?" Kate prompted impatiently as Seth's eyes snapped towards her and away from the notice board. "Because I'm not in the mood for company." She rolled her eyes and sniffed. "Or in the mood for you at all, really."

"I was going to say say sorry, but I don't really see much point," he stood up from the bed and looked down at Kate. "I can see you're too busy dwelling in your own self-pity." 

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She hissed, her green eyes gleaming with fury.

"Oh poor Kate," he whined sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "So distraught over not being with her Culebra brother who she most definitely does see as a monster and doesn't want anywhere near her, of course." Kate clenched her fists as her face flushed crimson, she was about to interrupt but Seth cut her off and carried own with his mocking. "So much so she gets so insanely jealous and bitter when my own monster brother returns and offers to help defeat and protect her against the Culebras who are very keen to snatch her up and more than likely kill her. So who's the real monster here, Princess?"

Rage exploded inside of Kate as he finished his speech. She grabbed a heavy book from her bedside table and hurled it at him with all the power she could muster, it soared through the air and slammed into Seth's face before he had time to react and step out of the way, he yelpe as he stumbled back a few steps and threw up his hands to clutch at his nose. He lifted his hand slowly and Kate watched with satisfaction as they both discovered she had made Seth Gecko's nose bleed for the second time, she smirked with pleasure when she saw that it was a lot heavier this time round. 

"Are you crazy?" Seth spluttered as he covered his nose in his sleeve in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood pooling out of his nostrils. 

"You don't fucking get it do you?!" She screamed vehemently, the veins in her neck pulsed as rapid as her breathing as she shook with rage. "Richie was always going to come back, he's your real brother!"

"And why should that matter?" He yelled back as equally loud, his fury over his bleeding nose getting the better of him as the blood drenched his sleeve. 

"There's nothing connecting me and Scott anymore!" Her voice was shaking as much as her body as she held back the tears that were pooling in her eyes, she wasn't going to give Seth the satisfaction of making her cry. "We don't share the same race. We don't share the same parents, the ones we did share are dead. We don't even have the same species in common between us anymore! There's nothing to bring us back together again." She quickly wiped away a stray tear from her eye as Seth watched her silently. "So don't you dare call me jealous, or bitter or crazy or anything that makes me out like I'm wrong for feeling how I feel! I've lost a brother. You got yours back!"

"Kate-"

"You! You out all people!" Her shouting had lost its sadness and was now rage and bitterness. She stood up from her bed and stood opposite Seth. "The man who destroyed my family got his back."

"Are we really going down this route again?" Seth snarled and took a threatening step towards her, his voice dropped low as he lent down to her. "Because we all know how this ends up."

"Maybe we are," she shrugged, her arms crossed defiantly over her chest, her chin raised as she met Seth's furious stare head on.

"Do you think I planned it?" He asked calmly.

"What?" 

"Do you think I planned it?" Kate was silent for a second as she watched Seth's expectant expression as he waited for her answer. "Well, do you? Do you think I planned that night at the Twister? Do you think I planned to have vampires trying to kill us? To have us go down into that temple and have it mess with our minds? For you to nearly get sacrificed? For your brother to change? For your father to die?"

Kate kept silent. 

"Well?" He demanded. "Do you?"

She broke the eye contact and glanced at the floor. "No."

"You're damn right, sweetheart," his voice was as sharp as a cutting knife. She met his eyes once more. "And don't forget you asked me for company. Me." He pointed at himself with one hand and wiped away the now steady trickle of blood from his nose with the other using his sleeve. "And you've stayed with me a long fucking time without shifting any blame on me before, and without acting like you hated me so much, so why start now, hmm?" He watched the now crying girl in front of him cautiously as he spoke again, hating how his voice had lost its sharpness and was now soft as he cupped her face for reasons he didn't want to think about. "What's changed, Kate?"

"It was all meant to end when I left with you," she sobbed as she looked up at him and leant slightly into his hand. "We were meant to drive away from that bar and leave it all behind us but instead it followed us, Seth." Her voice dropped to a teary whisper. "I can't escape it forever. One day it's going to catch up with me and anything could happen. They could kill me. They could kill you."

A fresh wave of tears crashed over her and Seth pulled her into him as he held her close, she clutched at him as he stroked the back of her head. "They won't kill me, and they most certainly won't kill you."

"You don't know that," her voice was muffled into his chest.

"I will personally make sure of it."

"I can't loose you, Seth." She said in a muffled whisper. "You're all that I have now."

"You won't, Princess." He lightly kissed the top of her head as he tried to soothe her sobs. "You won't."

~

It was nearing midnight before Richie sauntered back into the apartment and shut the door firmly behind him, Seth and Kate looked up from the sofa and watched as Richie walked in and looked over at the both of them. Seth was sitting on one end of the sofa watching the TV as Kate lay with her head in his lap with her mobile phone out in front of her as if she laid with Richie's brother like that almost every night. Richie sat down on the sofa opposite and they both looked away from him, Richie smirked when he saw Kate roll her eyes as he sat down. He pulled out his Zippo from his trouser pocket and lit up a cigarette as he continued to survey the pair. 

Kate sat up from Seth's lap and he looked down briefly as her head lifted, then settled them back on her as she began to address his brother. "Can you not smoke in here?" She asserted. "I hate the smell."

"You didn't hate it that day beside the pool," he pointed out, making her cheeks blush slightly pink. Seth watched with interest, Kate had briefly told him what had happened that day beside the pool on the fateful day the brothers took their family hostage, never expanding further than what he had revealed to Kate as their hands had touched. 

Kate shot him a dirty look and then stared at the TV as tried to ignore the smug Gecko. "Speaking about smells," Richie sniffed dramatically and smirked once more, Seth and Kate both stared at him skeptically then briefly caught each others eye as they drew up their conclusions as to where he could be going with this. "I can smell blood."

"Are you sure it's not from the stain in the carpet?" She leant towards him and raised her eyebrows as she pointed at the red stain. She made a mental note to find out the best way to remove it, it was making her stomach churn every time she saw it. "Does Culebra blood smell different? It certainly looks different."

"I don't know," he answered in fake earnest as he shrugged his shoulders and leant in closer just as she had done. "I've only been killing humans recently."

"That's enough, Richard," Seth snapped at his brother, he didn't have the energy for another argument. 

"Did you tell Kate 'enough' when she broke your nose?" 

"Nah, he didn't," Kate interjected and grinned. Seth and a Richie ignored her and instead continued meeting each other's eyes like two Wolves fighting for dominance.

"Will you say it when I stake you for the second time?" Seth retorted loudly and narrowed his eyes at his brother who was leaning cockily back on the sofa. 

"Yeah, let's find out," Kate interjected again, taking delight in the brother's squabbling despite that they were still ignoring her.

"I wonder if you still taste like shit?" 

"The only shit you'll ever taste is the shit coming out of your mouth," Kate muttered under her breath, the annoyance of being ignored finally getting to her. 

"What was that Katie-cakes?" Richie's eyes snapped towards her. "Speak up."

Kate and Seth shared a smirk as Kate turned to face Richie again, Seth watched on with an amused expression of his face. "I was just saying that the only shit you'll ever taste is the shit coming out of your mouth," Seth snickered at his brother's unamused look and Kate carried on against him, taking her perfect opportunity to silence Richie Gecko. "But then I guess you must of tasted a lot of shit in the last few months though, right? I mean you took in all of Santanico's, didn't you?"

At this point Seth could no longer hold the laughter building up and let it out, his loud chuckle seemed to fill the room as he and Kate shared a small fist bump. Kate was delighted that her comment had amused Seth so much, she usually got the vibe that he didn't find her very funny at all. It was a nice change. 

Richie rolled his eyes and grabbed the remote from the table and switched the channel as he lay down on the sofa. "Fuck you."

 

~

Kate was starting to get bleary-eyed as she tried to focus on the old action movie on the TV both Seth and Richie had insisted she sit and watch with them, telling her that it was about time she learnt what a good movie really is. She had decided she liked the brothers more when they were arguing and not when they were ganging up on her. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as a car rolled violently across the screen and exploded into flames, she glanced casually at the brothers and found it amusing how engrossed they both were on the action that was taking place on the screen when Kate was pretty sure that they had been involved in, and more than likely the cause of dramatic scenes like the fictional one playing out in front of them.

"I'm going to bed," Kate said as she stood up from the sofa and looked over at Seth. "Night."

"Hmm?" Seth looked up with a confused look on his face as he attention left the TV. "What did you say?"

Kate sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed," she let out a quick yawn. "Good night."

"Night," Seth smiled briefly as she walked away and then quickly began to watch the TV again.

"Good night, Katie-cakes!" Richie called from the sofa, watching as she made her way to her room. "Don't let the bed bugs bite! Or other things, if you know what I mean."

"Good night, Richie!" Kate stopped briefly and turned around to face him. "I'll see you when the sun comes up. That's only if Seth doesn't decide to burn you properly this time."

"We'll see, won't we?" Richie said and with that Kate smiled in mock sweetness and slammed her bedroom door, Seth shoot Richie a peeved look as the apartment seemed to shake slightly. "What?" He said innocently. "I was only wishing her good night."

"I don't think you understand that she is a teenager and she will come back at you with a full force tantrum that will even give you a run for your money," Seth said. "Trust me, I know."

"Is that how your nose got broke?" Richie chuckled and peered close to his brother. "You might want to get that checked out by the way, it's not looking too good." He said in fake concern. 

"I don't need a doctor," Seth grumbled as he tried to ignore the dull, throbbing pain in his nose. "We were brought up to not need them. Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." His voice sounded haunted as old memories he had locked away briefly came to light again. "But why not, though?" He continued, his voice sounding like his own once again. "Trying to play the whole tough guy image for Kate?"

"One of us has to be the strong one." 

"Ah," Richie began thoughtfully. "I'm not too sure about that. Kate seems to be not as vulnerable as she was. It seems like she can hold her own quite well now, probably doesn't need you as much as you like to think."

"Oh Yeah?" Seth challenged as he began to grow angry at his brothers observations. "Well you don't know her like I do."

Richie stayed silent and instead looked at his brother for a few seconds with a quizzical expression upon his face. When he spoke again his voice was full of curiosity but hesitant at the same time, like he was worried about the answer he would maybe receive. "What's actually up with you and Kate?"

"None of your damn business." 

"It is my business if you want my help."

"I don't want your help."

"That's right. You need it."

"So start bringing it then and stop being so fucking useless," Seth demanded. "Because all you've done so far is bleed all over my carpet, nearly burn to a crisp and piss off Kate."

"Maybe that is me trying to help?"

"Richard-" he began to growl. 

"Fine," Richie sighed and rolled his eyes. "We'll come up with a proper plan in the morning."

"And it better be a good one," Seth stood up from the sofa and stared down at his brother. "Or you're out."

"Oh I'm quivering with fear." Richie replied sarcastically to the back of Seth's retreating figure.

Seth stopped and looked at Richie over his shoulder. "Oh," he said. "Did I say out? I meant to say burnt into a pile of ashes. Or staked to one of those Big Kahuna joints you like so much. I haven't decided yet. Either way, you'll be dead."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the best writer in the world, but I hope you liked it and you'll stick around for the rest of the chapters :).


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